University of Colorado professor Marjorie McIntosh was quite fond of her book collection on medieval history.
The one about British women who worked as brewers made her chuckle. And she couldn’t count the number of times she had flipped through the pages of “The Population History of England,” looking for some obscure fact for one of her own books.
But as McIntosh – who retired from CU last week after 28 years – considered cleaning out her office, she realized it was silly to store her 800 books at home just in case she wanted to look at them again someday.
That was about the same time she heard about the mold that crept into history books at the University of New Orleans library after Hurricane Katrina.
McIntosh spread word through CU’s history department and within a few months collected another 800 or so books for the University of New Orleans.
About 15 professors, staff and students packed 61 boxes of books last week and carted them across the Boulder campus Quad to the library, where they could take advantage of a library-to-library shipping rate.
Shipping was estimated to cost about $1,500, about half paid for by a gift to the history department and the rest by McIntosh.
When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in August, it ripped a hole in the roof of UNO’s library, and rain leaked inside.
Some of the 2,000 people who were dropped on campus by helicopter in the days after the disaster kicked in a window and climbed into the library, where they ruined furniture and broke into a vending machine, said library dean Sharon Mader. Dogs also rummaged through the building.
Librarians removed about 3,300 history books from shelves because of mold, which grew while the library was without electricity and air conditioning for two months, Mader said.
Many of those books probably will return to shelves after cleaning, Mader said.
A bigger problem than lost books, she said, is the loss of staff and funding. After the hurricane, the library is down about 20 people, several of whom evacuated and never came back.
The student body has dropped from about 17,000 before the hurricane to fewer than 12,000, meaning a big loss of tuition money.
The library has had other offers for donated books, including from the German consulate in New York, said UNO history professor Guenter Bischof.
But with limited staff, it’s difficult to catalog the donations. Still, McIntosh’s collection is “almost priceless” because of its uniqueness, Bischof said.
McIntosh, a distinguished professor and fellow of the Royal Historical Society of England, considered grabbing back a few of her favorites as she packed boxes, but she let them go.
“You come to love your books,” said McIntosh, who is working on her sixth book. “The idea that they could stay in use – it’s a wonderful way to feel when you are ending your career.”
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
