Preservation storage in a flood damage mitigation effort at the National Library of France

Abstract

During a flood alert, the decision to evacuate a threatened collection of a library is an important one. If not thought out carefully, a hastily executed move can expose valuable collections to unforeseen threats. Although floods are usually slow to develop in Paris, the decision to make a preventive evacuation must be taken at the appropriate moment, considering the time needed for the relocation, the reality of the threat and the need for service continuity. In the context of its flood protection plan, the National Library of France has conceived a box model that contributes to saving time in case of a flood and prevents damage during an evacuation. Combining accessibility to documents with security requirements, this model can be implemented in different contexts.