Fort Collins – No one saw the benefits when an 8-foot wall of water smashed through the bottom floor of the Morgan Library on the Colorado State University campus 10 years ago.
But today, many say the flood swept in needed change to Morgan and made it one of the technological leaders among college libraries in the country.
“It’s what we like to call our silver lining to the flood,” said Carmel Bush, assistant dean of digital services at CSU.
Bush, like other employees, was stunned she was called back to the library the night of July 28, 1997, to help with the cleanup efforts. The murky, rancid waters had swamped the library’s 77,500-square-foot basement and destroyed nearly 500,000 volumes.
Those included the library’s bound journal collections and much of the sciences, social sciences and humanities books.
Up to 14.5 inches of rain fell over a 30-hour period in a band of heavy moisture extending along the base of the foothills between southwestern Fort Collins and an area northwest of LaPorte. As much as 5.3 inches of rain fell from 6 to 10:30 p.m. on July 28 on the campus alone, CSU climatologists say.
The flood killed five people and destroyed two mobile-home parks. The combined damage to Fort Collins and CSU caused by the flood reached $200 million.
More than 100 people packed nearly 70,000 boxes full of soggy material for shipment to a special freezing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to be preserved.
Thanks in part to donations, many of the 500,000 volumes have been replaced.
Meanwhile, the library was refitted and innovations were introduced. One was RapidILL, an article delivery service now used by more than 70 libraries in the U.S. and Asia, Bush said.
The library’s teaching lab – which was destroyed in the flood – became a multimedia Web-based instruction module that helps students learn how to do research online.
The flood also got officials to put more research materials online. Today, about 73 percent of the journals are available electronically.
“At the time (of the flood), our collection of electronic resources was negligible,” said Patricia Smith, coordinator for collections and contracts. “Now students, faculty and staff have a way of getting critical materials from anywhere.”
Morgan Library is marking the 10-year anniversary of the flood with an exhibit in Archives and Special Collections that runs through Aug. 27 in Room 202.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
