This pretty much sums up the scene around here.
Actually, to REALLY set the scene for you in terms of what this storm has done in about four hours? I usually go to this (EDFAA) library at UWA. Photo is by Laura, fellow educator and works at the uni.
This is the lower floors of the library and I’ve sat in… well, what used to be one of the desks by that window, which has smashed inwards and sailed into all the shelves which hold all the really beautiful books on things like education, art and architecture.
Oh, there’s a compactus near there, which holds some of the older books, just to the right of the picture. I remember that’s where I found the Philosophy of Education books.
There’s also all the library computers that they moved away from the other side of those shelves and into the centre of the building. Not too far from that window. Yes, those windows that are smashed in.
You can see a chair upside down, floating, can’t you?
I think I’ll donate to the UWA fund to help restock. :/ Water-damage pretty much means those books are all gone. Damn it.
I was going to give you some links today to some news items, none of which are particularly cheerful either.
Things like -- Prince Charles health charity accused of vendetta against critic in the UK BBC news, which involved Edzard Ernst (co-author of the great Trick or Treatment?: Alternative Medicine on Trial with Simon Singh):
The complaint states the trustees of the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) allowed the foundation’s staff to pursue a public “vendetta” against a prominent critic of the prince’s support for complementary medicines, Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University.
It also suggests the imminent closure of Ernst’s department may be partly down to the charity’s official complaint about him after he publicly attacked its draft guide to complementary medicines as “outrageous and deeply flawed”.
Edzard Ernst gives his side of the story at The Pulse:
My comment was as follows: ‘For far too long has the Prince of Wales been allowed to use his FIH as his private tool for popularizing his strange and antiscientific views on healthcare.
‘In the process, public funds have been wasted, the British public were systematically misled and progress was hindered. In my view, the field of complementary medicine would benefit greatly, if the FIH ceased to exist and the funds thus freed were directed towards rigorous research.’
I can’t tell you how unimpressed I am with the news that in Malaysia, ABC News reports, ‘filmmakers can depict homosexuals for the first time in strictly censored Malaysia, so long as they repent or even go straight in the end, an industry group said’.
That’s it. I’m going back to my nice dry bed and hug my terrified cats who don’t like the thunder. :/
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s terrible. I don’t know what to say.
Yeah. :/ The more I think about it, the more I remember books that I’ve browsed through there. There’s plenty of really old texts, hard-to-find ones or out-of-print that end up in libraries. I’m wondering about the folios around the other side and the main bank of computer rooms too. I could have been there this afternoon, working on the thesis draft… I better email in and check on the professors, see if the college is still open this week.
My sister goes to that uni… her poor little car got battered
omg about the Malaysia news! It would be better to have no films featuring homosexuals than one than depicts them in such a biased light.
That’s horrible. I feel like crying.
Which library is that ? I used to go to UWA. I hope the carp weren’t hurt.
The one at the Education building. :/ Arts, Architecture and Education, just across the road from the main campus. There’s a lower-floor, which has large glass windows and a kind of sunken-garden bit. I don’t know if the entire library is flooded out, but if it happened quickly enough (and that chair seems to be floating, I can’t even see the desks that are usually at that window), I bet the whole floor is gone. The library check-out area would be filled up too. Sod, I don’t really want to look further, quite frankly. :/
Don’t know about the carp… looking through news reports online, lots on the Facebook ‘I Survived’ pics. :/
Here’s a picture of the Carp Pond at UWA!!
Thanks, GG – here’s the stained glass windows at UWA Winthrop Hall, all shattered … just before the engineering graduation ceremony
Apparently the clock tower was damaged too?
I don’t know the education building – I was an engineering type. But, wow – that carp pond is now a lot bigger ! The carp can get out and explore!
I stood opposite the campus watching the destruction from the bus stop. It was insane! It’s so sad to see Winthrop wounded like that. Poor UW.
And they will. Carp are an adventurous lot.
Bloody hell!!
When I studied to be a librarian we did a module on coping with disasters, including a case study of a library that had been flooded. They managed to save a lot of the books by freezing them and then prying apart the pages before they dried.
When I went to work in real libraries, no-one had any emergency back up plans in place. “Can’t happen here.” I’ll be interested to see what they do.
I’m heartbroken to see that pic.
Hey, the ‘freezing books’ IS something I’ve had happen at a school I’ve worked with! The MLC library had a burst water main that took out all the History section. They did the freezing trick on a few of the more expensive books and tried a hairdryer on some others. Wasn’t as successful as they hoped, because time had passed between the accident and the discovery.
At the moment? I’m wondering if my workplace is still standing, their website is down although it’s not listed on the ‘schools closed’ list in the local newspaper: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/6967134/storm-brings-huge-damage-bill/
So sorry to see this. Is there any way students/staff can get together to salvage some of the texts?
Good question. :/ It looks like a massive flood, don’t even know if the shelves are standing if the water pressure got up high enough. I’ll find out by checking with my professors on Thursday. :/
6th March: Storm in Melbourne
13th March: Atheists get together
22nd March: Storms in Perth
God’s aim is still a little off. It’s only a matter of time until this is blamed on Australia’s lack of religiosity or the Atheist Conference. I’d say Nalliah can’t be far off announcing that this has been revealed to him.
Karen just wandered by. She said that she learnt about rescuing bookies. The books that can’t be replaced can be frozen until they can have their pages separated and dried. They will always be water damaged but they will still be usable. Hopefully the librarians at this library have the facilities to give this a go.
It’s really quite sad.
BTW – I’ve just had some bitter commentator – edit to add, it’s Alec McHoul, former Head of the School of Media Communication & Culture at Murdoch University, who has an anonymous site that links to this blog-post – find it for yourself if you wish, they’re clearly too embittered to openly write on their own site as to why they hate UWA so much!
McHoul attempted to write a nasty comment on this site along the lines of ‘rich people don’t deserve libraries’ (‘You poor rich bastards!’ to be exact and a post called ‘Crocodile Tears’ that they deleted – there is a cache copy I have!) – UWA is a university that is open to the public for courses (either online or the Extension units) and anyone can go to their libraries as a member of the public. Nor does UWA lack in scholarships or support for rural and remote students.
If people really care about libraries, they’d care about ones no matter where they are. I write about this one, because it’s the library that I go to regularly – much like anyone would if they discovered a favourite place of theirs was storm-damaged. :/
I hope that the damage, beyond what is obvious, isn’t too great. It always makes me sad to see books destroyed. Especially old and rare ones of the sort you’ll only find in a university library. Why must they be so fragile?
I guess it’s the last thing you’d think would happen – a large glass window, the garden area, poor or blocked drainage – maybe it just never occurred to people. Plenty of us never do until a natural disaster hits. :/ Although insurance will help, there’s bound to be some things that aren’t replaceable.
I’m an architecture student at UWA and saw the damage this morning. It’s damage is pretty bad, the library is now waist deep in mud. From accounts of friends who were in there when it happened, the entire place was flooded. It’s really sad that if not all the books, at least a large majority will have been destroyed.
Geeze, people had to be evacuated? Must have happened really rapidly, the poor people who work there must have been horrified! What could they do? :/
I’ve had students today tell me about damage to their houses, cars, flooding on the way home. A few were worried about the continuing storm warnings and if it would hit again today. The newspapers have quite a few items about it, so I guess I’m not saying anything new. :/
I’m so sorry.
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