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The irony was thick.

On July 30, 2003, a fire sprinkler—installed to protect lives, the building itself, and hopefully save at least some library materials from destruction—was fooled by high temperatures and went off, damaging some 2,000 books and other materials on Nampa Public Library’s second floor.

Nampa Fire Department officials, quick to defend fire sprinklers, pointed out that the sprinkler system itself did not malfunction. Rather, the culprit was human error. The sprinkler that triggered had a sensor set to go off if the temperature reached 155°F, which for many applications is sufficient. But the sprinkler head in question was in a recessed skylight, and outdoor temperatures that day soared to 106°F. “The skylight basically became an oven,” said Reggie Edwards of the Nampa Fire Department. He and his staff recorded a temperature of 144°F in the skylight area the day after the disaster. “In all my years in the firefighting business, I’ve never seen a fire sprinkler malfunction,” Edwards said. “I have seen, time and time again, fire sprinklers save buildings and lives.”

While many, many items were damaged—including some 1,200 damaged beyond repair—it could have been a lot worse. Library employees, including Public Services staff members Dawn Kindberg and Deborah Babbitt, responded quickly and began moving books away from the torrent. “We were on it in a matter of seconds,” Kindberg remembered. Also, ten or twelve library patrons pitched in, an effort that library staff praised. Kindberg, who was staffing the information desk at the time of the disaster, mentioned how admirably the patrons reacted in the crisis. “It really shows how much patrons value the library,” she said.

About ten minutes later, the Nampa Fire Department arrived. Although there was no fire, they did bring large tarps that were used to cover and protect materials close to the flood area. As soon as they could, fire department personnel located the water main and closed the valve. By this time, however, the water pooling on the second floor began to seep through the floor and spill over the balcony onto children’s books on the first floor. While few items on the first floor sustained any serious damage, the water turned an area where children typically play and read into a damp, dirty mess.

All told, 1,127 items were damaged beyond repair. At an average cost of $14.16 per item—which is the library’s actual average item cost for the past year—the price of unrecoverable items alone is over $17,000. What is lost in this figure is the number of items that are no longer available and cannot be replaced, regardless of cost. Cleaning up after the disaster, including replacing damaged wall board and returning the area to its pre-flood condition, cost over $3,500. In addition, the library was forced to close at about 5pm on the day of the flood and did not open again until the next day at 1pm, thus depriving patrons of six hours of library time.

Also lost in these figures is the relative decimation of some of the library’s crucial adult collections, such as poetry, biography, and travel. Even now, almost half a year later, some fairly standard information requests cannot be met with the ease and completeness one would expect. Library Director Karen Ganske mentioned, for example, that typically the library would carry a number of biographies about Albert Einstein. But since the disaster, the normally robust and reliable collection could have been reduced to one or two books.

For Dawn Kindberg, time is the greatest loss. All of the efforts to move the books, clean up, and sort through the damaged books—just for starters—“takes time away from something else,” Kindberg said. Considering the hours that also now must be spent on collection evaluation, acquisitions, cataloguing, and processing, Kindberg feels “frustrated.” Despite the tremendous efforts of staff, patrons, and other community members, Kindberg said, “[This] didn’t have to happen.”

But what could have been done? Most agree that the reactions of staff, patrons, and emergency personnel were as quick as can be expected; the fire station, for example, is only a block from the library. Further, the library had disaster protocols in place, and staff implemented them appropriately given the situation. Public Services Supervisor Deborah Babbitt mentioned that tarps or large rolls of plastic to cover the suddenly soaking materials would have been a blessing, and may be a good disaster prevention tool to consider for the future. Library Director Karen Ganske added that having all necessary phone numbers in one place—such as those for insurance claims and disaster remediation personnel—would have been a real time saver. While Babbitt mentioned, “You don’t ever know how well prepared you are for disaster until it happens,” she cited some ways libraries can be better prepared for the unexpected.

Training—and, sadly, experience—definitely help. During the disaster, Babbitt recalled strategies she had learned during her MLS coursework and experiences she had during a similar disaster that occurred during her time at Boise State University. In that experience, she and her colleagues had access to industrial-size freezers to freeze dry books. Nampa Public Library had no such luxury. Instead, Babbitt and other staff members worked quickly to first get books out from under the sprinkler, then to separate the salvageable books from those soaked beyond repair. Further, disaster remediation staff placed large dehumidifiers next to the tables where wet books dried out. Sadly, this tactic didn’t work as well as was hoped.

In retrospect, Babbitt stressed the need for all staff to be fluent in current emergency policies and procedures. While Library Director Karen Ganske was in the building during the crisis, it is important that all employees know what actions to take in the event that key staff are unavailable. Equally important, according to Babbitt, is the need for all staff to know where key items and materials are, such as water shut off valves, electrical breaker switches, and even large rolls of plastic or tarps to cover books.

And this commitment to preparing staff for the worst can’t wane, Babbitt said. Libraries should make sure staff are aware of emergency procedures even “when [your staff] has turned over three, four times.”

Both Kindberg and Babbitt praised how calmly staff approached the disaster. “Nobody panicked or freaked out or made a scene,” Kindberg recalled, adding that everyone was doing something to help. Babbitt agreed, adding that, if those in leadership positions can remain calm, this will help all involved—including other management staff and members of the public—act calmly, as well.

In the end, there is only so much any library staff can do to avert disaster. But having a plan—and keeping calm when bad things do happen—are strong first steps toward minimizing problems and moving forward quickly after the damage is done.