UWS Library Recovers From 2012 Flood

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The flood of 2012 caused at least $18 million in damage to UW-Superior’s Jim Dan Hill Library.

The staff says while the event was unfortunate, starting over has presented an opportunity to bring the library into the 21st century.

Nearly 150,000 books were lost in about 6 feet of flood water.

Since then, library staff have spent more than $2 million tripling their collection.

They have purchased more than 33,000 print books and now have access to 304,000 electronic books, 22,000 streaming videos and nearly 170 electronic databases that cover thousands of journal titles.

“We’re really excited with what we’ve been able to do with the purchase,” UWS Library Interim Director Laura Jacobs said. “It’s fun everyday. It’s like Christmas opening up boxes. Twenty boxes of books wow what’s in here today, very, very fun.”

The library tried to save some of their material through a freeze dry process, but the books did not turn out like they’d hoped.