Library Fires and Salvage Methods
John Still · The American Archivist · 1953
other word in our language is quite so terrifying as fire. Whether in a home, a place of amusement, or a public building, this warning outcry immediately inspires fear, dread, and frequently panic. For the archivist, this is doubly true. While he, like anyone else involved in a fire, naturally fears for his own safety, he must also think of the books and manuscripts in his care, materials that are frequently irreplaceable. Too often in the case of a library fire, it is impossible to remove to a safe place any of the threatened materials. Aged documents and even bound volumes burn like tinder. Once a fire has gained a foothold, the individual can do little more than pray for prompt and efficient action by firemen, realizing at the same time that whatever materials are saved will probably be severely damaged by water. He is also likely, about this time, to wonder how the catastrophe might have been prevented. Whatever the cause, human frailty is almost certain to have played a part, either through lack of foresight or through carelessness. Until recent years tragic experience was virtually the only teacher, but today it is possible, as a result of lessons emerging from several serious fires, to prescribe certain precautions that will help prevent fires and to suggest methods of salvaging damaged materials. It is absolutely essential that every conceivable effort be made to eliminate the possibility of fires in our libraries. No one in the archival profession needs to be reminded of the inestimable damage a fire could do in his institution. The loss of a building and of replaceable materials would indeed be costly and serious, but how can one evaluate manuscript collections? No amount of money can bring back or replace an original letter or other document. Unless it has been microfilmed or transcribed, it is totally and irrevocably lost.