Abstract
Ewa Potrzebnicka
Help of the National Library in Warsaw (Biblioteka Narodowa) in Floods of 1997 in Poland
Floods in June 1997 caused heavy damage to library collections. More than 90 libraries were affected. In some of them, water inundated collections, and damaged or destroyed whole buildings with their interior equipment, installations and technologies. The National Library in Warsaw participated in organizing help both in the course of the disaster and then on for the next more than five years. During the first stage of recovery, organizational structures were established to support creating the plans of activities, counting the costs and securing financial means to purchase equipment, materials and manpower. The second stage was concentrated on realizing practical activities, such as:
A/ freeze-drying
B/ computer databases of objects damaged by flood
C/ full or partial conservation