Press Clippings from online sources
Information on the flooded library collection at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram
Saving a valuable collection
by V. SRIDHAR
From Frontline
Volume 17 - Issue 20, Sep. 30 - Oct. 13, 2000
A
MAJOR conservation effort, perhaps the first of its kind in India, is
on to salvage more than 1,25,000 historical writings, mostly of the
19th and the 20th centuries, that were damaged in the flash floods
that hit Hyderabad on August 24. The collection s are housed in two
unique libraries - the Research Library and the Urdu Research Centre
(URC) - at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram (SVK). The effort, hailed by
international library conservation experts as a model in crisis
management, has also served as an example of international cooperation
to save historical heritage. Working in close coordination with the
organisers of the SVK, conservation experts from the United States
provided timely technical expertise, responding quickly to pleas for
help from Hyderabad via e-mail.
The
Research Library has a valuable collection of Telugu literature and
other material belonging to the 19th and 20th centuries. The URC has
what may be the world's finest collection of early Urdu periodicals
and printed books. The URC was initiated by t he Urdu Research Library
Consortium (URLC) in which several major U.S. universities are
participants.
The
opening of the floodgates on August 24 in order to release surplus
waters from the various tanks in Hyderabad resulted in the flash
floods. Several areas in the city were covered in sheets of water. The
SVK was submerged in three metres (10 feet) of water in a span of less
than 30 minutes.
Dr.
Atlury Murali, Reader in History at the University of Hyderabad, and a
member of the trust that governs the SVK, sent an SOS to library
conservation experts in the U.S. "I am reporting a tragedy with tears
in my eyes," Murali wrote to James Nye, Bibliographer for South Asia
at the University of Chicago, on the evening of August 24. Murali
informed him that while hundreds of books and other printed material
were floating in the library premises, other sodden material remained
on the shelves.
The
first response to the desperate e-mail came from David Magier of
Columbia University. Magier's posting advised the SVK organisers to
refer the technical leaflets on emergency management in libraries at
the website of the Northeast Document Conservation Centre (NDCC),
Maryland, U.S.
Over
the next few days, the Preservation Office at the Library of Congress,
the NDCC, the Weissman Preservation Centre at Harvard University, the
Preservation Department at the University of Columbia Libraries and
the Preservation Department at the University of Chicago Libraries
assisted in the salvage operations. In addition, the Association of
Research Libraries, the Centre for Research Libraries, the Council of
American Overseas Research Centres and the Library of Congress' New
Delhi Field Office offered assistance in various ways.
The
experts' advice was that although the immediate task was to get the
material out of the water, it was equally important to prevent the
formation of mould on the books and other material. As the humid
conditions in the aftermath of the floods threaten ed to provide an
environment conducive to the growth of mould, one expert even
suggested that the books rather remain under water until arrangements
to move them into freezers were fully in place. It was recommended
that the books and records be placed in wooden or plastic crates,
their spines facing downwards and one layer deep in order to prevent
further damage.
According to an online leaflet of the NDCC, titled "Emergency Salvage
of Wet Books and Records", paper-based collections distort immediately
upon becoming wet. Books distort, paper cockles, inks and pigments
tend to run and coated paper begin to adhere. Mold blooms rapidly in
wet collections, first attacking the spines of bound material. "Once
established," the leaflet points out, "mold is extremely difficult to
control and eradicate..." Time is of the essence in any recovery
operation. The process of stabilisation of the collections and the
facilities in which they are housed are the key to a successful
salvage operation. Stabilisation means that water is removed,
temperature and humidity are brought under control and the dry
collections are protected. In most instances, wet books and records
must be stabilised by freezing. The NDCC observes, from experience in
the last decade in the U.S., that "if sound recovery methods are
followed, it is less expensive to dry original collections than to
replace them".
The
NDCC provides information on the various drying techniques available
to library conservators. Air drying, the oldest and most common
method, is more suitable when small volumes of material are involved.
However, it is inexpensive because it does not require sophisticated
equipment. Dehumidification is suitable for drying library or archive
buildings that have suffered extensive damage by water. However, this
method is more effective when used in conjunction with other
techniques.
Freezer drying, the method now employed by the SVK, involves the
placing of the material in freezers for several weeks, or even months
to enable drying. Cryogenic drying, a variation of the freezer drying
method, is a patented process. It is primarily meant for the recovery
of rare books and manuscripts, particularly those bound in leather or
vellum. Vacuum freeze drying is a more expensive option, requiring
sophisticated equipment.
The
technical literature on salvaging printed material from water
advocates an ideal temperature of 0 degrees Celsius. According to
experts, at 99 per cent humidity and with the temperature at 35
degrees Celsius, mould will form within two days. At 90 percent
humidity and at the same temperature, mould formation will occur in
about four days. And, at about 80 per cent humidity, mould growth will
take place in about 13 days. This meant that unless the SVK organisers
were sure about the logistics of the freezing operations, the books
had a better chance of survival in water rather than out of it. The
experts suggested that manuscripts, miniature paintings and other
material in water-soluble media be retrieved on a priority basis.
"Prolonged immersion," an expert informed Murali, "will not dissolve
the paper in most situations." However, exposure to water could make
the ink "bleed" or dissolve. The image layer of coated glossy paper
also ran the risk of being softened.
Wet
books and records require different methods of treatment. Paper
records need to be separated quickly to avoid the risk of damage owing
to adhesion. Individual sheets of records must be laid on floors or
such other flat surfaces and if possible be protected by paper towels
to ensure quicker absorption of water.
Wet
books are a more difficult proposition. Every few pages have to be
interleaved using paper towels or clean unprinted newsprint. The
interleaving has to be replaced regularly to remove the moisture.
However, excessive interleaving would cause damage, making the spine
concave, distorting the shape of the book. Care has to taken to
prevent stacking of books as this would damage the volumes.
The
consensus of the experts in the U.S., who had started hectic
consultations among themselves, was that the books should be
freeze-dried at the earliest. Murali and his associates were urged to
move the books quickly into freezers. Over the next few days, Sambi
Reddy, the secretary of the SVK, and Murali consulted the experts on
all aspects of the conservation effort. A conservation expert at
Columbia University advised Murali to "bring out of the water only as
much as you think you can spread out and dry right away". The books
had to be washed gently to remove mud. The delicate nature of the
cargo meant that only 25 books could be carried in a crate. Soon
enough, the SVK organisers ran short of plastic crates. They procured
2,000 wooden crates but only a limited number of books could be
accommodated in each of them. The books were kept in a single row,
their spines facing down.
With
the help of some friendly bureaucrats, the organisers located some
cold storage space for free for the rather unusual consignment. By the
morning of August 26, the first truckloads of material in 300 plastic
crates were ready to be moved to the deep freezers. Volunteers from
the Students' Federation of India (SFI) were engaged in this operation
because Murali believed that they would "handle the books with
sympathy".
By
the night of August 30, the first leg of the recovery operation was
over. More than one lakh books and about 1,250 Urdu manuscripts, in
2,200 plastic crates, were placed in cold storage. About 1,700 crates
are being kept in -2 degrees Celsius and the rest at 2 degrees
Celsius, as advised by the experts. The SVK has hired about 7,500
cubic feet of cold storage space, at a cost of about Rs.1 lakh a
month. Sambi Reddy estimates that about 60 per cent of the Telugu
collection and more than 90 per cent of the Urdu collection are now in
the deep freezer.
Murali told Frontline that the collection would remain in the freezer
until December. He is confident of a 100 per cent recovery. Since most
of the books are of 19th and early 20th century vintage, the problem
is more with the paper, which is brittle, rather than the ink. The
Urdu manuscripts, he said, were in good condition as they were kept in
plastic covers and also because "traditional ink does not spread as
fast as the normal ink we use". James Nye hopes that the recovery
operation will be completed by April.
The
operations have so far cost the SVK Rs.3 lakhs. Murali expects that
the entire cost of the recovery is likely to be in the region of Rs.25
lakhs. Academics in the U.S and in India are trying to raise the
resources.
The
international community of library conservationists is all praise for
the salvage operations. An e-mail sent by James Nye to Murali and
Sambi Reddy on August 28, just as the operations were drawing to a
close, sums up the appreciation. Nye described them as "miracle
workers". "That phrase," he wrote, "is one which international
conservation experts here (in the U.S.) have used to describe your
actions." He contrasted the successful effort in Hyderabad with a 1966
episode in Florence, Italy, where historical records suffered similar
damage in floods. Much of the records have been lost forever. An
economist in Chennai still rues the loss of some 1981 Census records
following a heavy downpour in 1982.
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