Boston Athenaeum (Attention: Headline Writer)

"The Boston Athenaeum Turns 200"  (WBUR, 90.0 FM, a 2007 broadcast)

Volumes of water, not damage. (Boston Globe, 1/26/2011)

Excerpt: Around 3 p.m., water burst from the ceiling just off the main hall, causing ankle-high flooding that soaked books and several large Oriental rugs, and damaged antique wooden furniture.

“It was like Niagara Falls,’’ Athenaeum director Paula Matthews said yesterday morning, as she oversaw the second day of cleanup efforts.

Water splashed a number of paintings and seeped through the floor to the book stacks below, damaging more than 1,000 volumes. Specialists were called in to freeze-dry the books, many of which date back centuries, to minimize the damage.

The five-floor building was quickly evacuated, and firefighters arrived within minutes to shut off the water. Cleanup crews and library staff then worked well past midnight to remove artwork and books from the flooded areas, and protect books in the basement from further damage.

The private, members-only institution, founded in 1807, holds 600,000 volumes, most of which are in circulation. Chief conservator James Reid-Cunning ham said he believed the damaged books, which range from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, would be salvaged.

[Bold emphases added.]

Related article:
Flooding damages Boston Athenaeum collection.  (1/25/2011)