Post #50675 by boutiki on Tue, Sep 9, 2003 8:57 AM

Oh man! That sucks! I recently heard on NPR about a library in Baltimore that had some water leak– on their rare book collection. They had a reclamation/restoration company come try to save the books, which they did successfully. The first thing they did that I thought was interesting was they put the books in a freezer. I guess this stops the water from doing any more damage and keeps mold spores from begining to grow.

If it's not to late already, maybe you'd want to put your books in the freezer and then research how best to dry them in order to minimize the damage. Seems like it's worth a shot.

I can suggest that you not leave your records in a stack when wet. I had some get wet (leeking roof in crappy old apartment) and was so put out I didn't want to deal with it. By the time I sat down to go through them, the covers had melded into one another forming a thick record caserole. In the middle was the very rare Les Baxter/Yma Sumac "Miracles" record. I don't even like to think about it.