UNE NEH Chairman's Emergency Grant Request Application

FAIN: PB-260684-18

Universidad Ana G. Mendez - Recinto de Carolina (Carolina, PR 00984-2010)
Elsa Mariani (Project Director: November 2017 to November 2019)

The purchase of supplies for staff to treat collections for mold and mildew, the purchase and installation of electrical fans and other equipment to moderate climate in the areas of the collections, and the purchase of electrical generators to supply more reliable power.

In September 2017, the island of Puerto Rico was struck by Hurricane Maria.  The category 4 storm left 100 percent of the island without electricity and almost 90 percent of residents without running water.  The principal threat to the collections of the Universidad del Este’s Jesús T. Piñero Library and Social Research Center, and of the institution’s General Library, is a combination of humidity, high temperatures, mold, and a lack of electrical power.  Water damage is evident in publications in the Ana G. Méndez Collection as well as other areas of the library.