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Deacidification (Continued from p. 255) scale facility were opened in April and looked favorable. However, the Library has taken the most prudent approach and will delay awarding contracts for the main facility until the pilot facility is operational and the design of the chemical delivery system is proven effective. The resulting delays are expected to push the start-up date for the main facility from late 1988 to sometime in 1989.

The Library of Congress is confident that the DEZ process will supply the most universal deacidification treatment for its varied collections. In addition, the Library is confident that the chemical process engineering required to convert liquid diethyl zinc into a gas at low pressure for the treatment of books is a viable process that can be implemented and handled safely. The incidents at the test facility at NASA, while unfortunate, appear at this time to be clearly traceable to ineffective procedures or design deficiencies. These will be corrected by using expertise available in the chemical process industry.

Other aspects of the Library's deacidification program are also moving forward and involve the Library Environment Resources Office, the Collections Management Division, and the Preservation Policy Com(Continued on p. 260)

Donald S. Klopfer Dies

Donald S. Klopfer, a leading figure in American publishing, died on May 30 at the age of 84. Mr. Klopfer became a publisher in 1925 when he and Bennett Cerf purchased the Modern Library, a series of classic reprints, and transformed it into one of the most successful publishing enterprises in American history. Mr. Klopfer and Mr. Cerf, however, were not content merely to publish reprints of classic titles, and in 1927 they formed another company to publish a wide array of original books "at random." Random House quickly gained a reputation for creativity and venturesomeness. It immediately began to publish the work of Eugene O'Neill, and it also signed up emerging American authors such as William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren, and a host of writers who would later acquire transcendent reputations. Random House made publishing history in 1933, when it successfully challenged existing censorship practices and won the right to publish James Joyce's Ulysses, which previously had been banned in the United States and elsewhere.

Mr. Klopfer was well known for his many kindnesses to young editors and authors, and he continued to give an orientation to new employees at Random House even after becoming chairman of the board. He and his widow, the former Kathleen Louchheim, were great

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) took time out from his busy schedule on June 19 to listen to several Irish tunes and say a few words to the audience gathered for the concert by the Irish Tradition, part of the American Folklife Center's free noontime series on the Library's Neptune Plaza. Remarking that it was a lovely day and a wonderful concert, he added that he would like to see the Irish Tradition return soon to the local Dubliner pub where they frequently performed in the past. Looking on are members of the group, Brendan Mulvihill (left), Billy McComiskey, and Andy O'Brien.

Bibliography Supplements
Lelewel Display

The Library now has available Joachim Lelewel, Scholar, 1786-1861, Bio-Bibliographic Sketch, published in conjunction with the display in the European Reading Room (LC. Information Bulletin, May 19, p. 174). This 18-page illustrated pamphlet includes a short biographical sketch and a selective bibliography, which is subdivided into Lelewel's own writings and works about Lelewel.

Lelewel's own writings reflect the Polish scholar's myriad interests, which ranged from numismatics to ancient history, geography, and library science. The selective list includes several of the studies in comparative history that earned Lelewel his doctorate from Krakow University. Of special interest to those interested in firsthand accounts of history are Lelewel's letters during his exile in France following his participation in the unsuccessful Polish insurrection of 1830-31. (Continued on p. 257)

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Book Deacidification Program Update NASA Completes Accident Investigation

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed its investigation of the cause of two incidents that took place in December 1985 and February 1986 at the small-scale book deacidification test facility operated through an interagency agreement with NASA for the Library of Congress at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

The small-scale test facility at Goddard was being used to obtain data needed to finalize the productionlevel design for the Library of Congress Mass Book Deacidification Facility. Authorized by Public Law 98427, the facility will be constructed at Fort Detrick, Md. The process, to be used for large-scale deacidification of books and other paper-based library materials in the Library of Congress collections, was developed and patented by the Library to arrest paper degradation and increase the life of materials by a factor of three to five times. This process, based on gas phase impregnation with diethyl zinc (DEZ), neutralizes the paper's acidity and leaves a residue of zinc oxide and zinc carbonate that protects paper for hundreds of years from further acid-induced loss of strength.

Prior to authorization of the Mass Book Deacidification Facility by the Congress, the Library-with engineering support from NASA-had successfully completed a 5,000-volume test and followed it with 13 small-scale tests at the 100-volume level or less. These tests were conducted in order to correct deficiencies and refine the basic treatment process.

As reported previously (LC Information Bulletin, March 7 and July 7), the December 1985 incident at Goddard resulted in a small flash fire caused by the contact of liquid diethyl zinc (DEZ) with air. The

The Library of Congress Information Bulletin is issued weekly by the Information Office of the Library of Congress and distributed free of charge to publicly supported libraries and research institutions, academic libraries, learned societies, and allied organizations in the United States.

Comparable institutions and organizations in other countries may arrange to receive the Bulletin on an exchange basis by applying in writing to the Library's Exchange and Gift Division. All other correspondence should be addressed to the LC Information Bulletin, Information Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540.

Bruce Tapper, Editor

LC Information Bulletin

facility was shut down by NASA pending an investigation of the cause of the incident. În February a second incident occurred during clean-up and purging of the chemical delivery system that ruptured lines and caused a small fire and an explosion that damaged a pump, pipelines, and the building walls. DEZ in its liquid state decomposes and ignites spontaneously on contact with oxygen in the air. (During discussions with Members of Congress and their staff on the DEZ process prior to authorization of the Fort Detrick facility, the Library of Congress discussed safety measures needed to minimize the hazard of handling liquid DEZ.)

The NASA accident report cited a combination of procedural errors, design flaws, and equipment failures as the cause of the two incidents. Among the procedural errors noted were: (1) a small amount of liquid DEZ in the chamber had been put into contact with liquid water due to an inappropriate procedure which did not allow verification of actual system status; (2) the test run, under way at the time of the first incident, had been conducted without the use of an approved test procedure; (3) procedures employed during the cleanup operations following the initial incident had been neither reviewed nor approved by NASA; (4) on several occasions engineering personnel had neglected to maintain a complete engineering log; (5) the approved procedure for lowering and cleaning the brine seal tank had not been used; and, (6) more DEZ had been tranferred into the chemical delivery system than had been needed to complete the experiment.

The last of these errors was particularly serious and occurred as a result of oversights dating to the beginning of test facility construction. Although a preliminary hazard analysis on the facility had been run by NASA's contractor prior to its construction, and resulting safety features had been added to the design, these were never incorporated into the physical test facility. Compounding this oversight, outside safety reviews were not conducted on the original plans and NASA's Safety Review Committee later did not conduct a final system safety review to ensure that the contractor had in fact incorporated all safety features in the facility. Consequently, the failure to install weighing devices on the DEZ storage tanks was never detected. The lack of exact knowledge about the number of pounds of liquid DEZ that had been moved from the storage tank to the delivery system lines was considered by NASA's Accident Investigation Board to be a key issue in the two mishaps; the board termed this error "a serious lapse." Weight measurement of the DEZ storage tanks, after the fact, revealed that an inappropriately large quantity of DEZ/mineral-oil mixture (approximately 730 pounds) had been introduced into the system prior to the December incident when only 30 pounds had been called for.

September 8, 1986

The report also noted design flaws and equipment malfunctions: the vacuum pump had been incorrectly wired; instrumentation in the pilot plant had been inadequate; data readouts had been inaccessible and had not been observed; line insulation, heating, venting, line slope, and draining capability had been inadequate; the use of a water-brine DEZ scrubbing system had been contrary to outside advice; and material delivery controls had been inadequate.

The NASA report also clarified why the incidents had occurred. Collection of liquid DEZ in the chamber floor, resulting in the small fire outside the chamber on December 5, 1985, had been caused by either: (a) DEZ condensation in the delivery piping or (b) the introduction of liquid DEZ/mineral-oil mixture into the vacuum chamber as a result of failure of the DEZ delivery system controls. The second incident on February 14, 1986, had been caused by the decomposition of liquid DEZ in a line by water sucked back into the line from the brine tank (causing overpressurization of a pump and the line). This high pressure caused the rupture or explosion of these items and the subsequent fire from DEZ leaking into the air.

Peter G. Sparks, director of the Library's Preservation Office and director of the DEZ deacidification project, after reviewing the report said: "Although the performance of NASA and its contractor was very disappointing in this phase of our development program, the mass book deacidification project has benefited from the total analysis of the incidents at NASA. The express purpose of running a pilot of the chemical delivery system design for the production facility was to identify weaknesses before committing to a final design. Early recognition of these deficiencies in the production plant design and in its designers will allow for their timely correction before the Library is committed to a final plant design. The Library is considering all of the recommendations made by NASA's Safety Review Board in its redesign of the deacidification test facility. Despite this setback in the steady progress of the deacidification program, the Library retains full confidence in the DEZ process and its ability to serve Library of Congress preservation needs in a safe, economical, and permanent manner. What our recent experience has proved is the need to seek design solutions for the appropriate delivery system within the chemical process industry, as opposed to the aerospace engineering field which has served us well but incompletely. We are grateful that the selection of the new contractor for design, construction, and operation of the chemical delivery system will have the benefit of the NASA report and the Library's experience throughout all the developmental phases of this project."

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Future developments of the Library's mass book deacidification project will be reported and discussed on a regular basis in subsequent DEZ update articles.

Local History and Genealogy Reading Room Earns Praise of Genealogists

The Local History and Genealogy Reading Room of the General Reading Rooms Division of the Library of Congress was honored by the National Genealogical Society at the society's Sixth Annual Conference in the States held in Columbus, Ohio, on May 30. The Local History and Genealogy Reading Room was selected to receive the National Genealogical Society Award of Merit in recognition of distinguished work in American genealogy.

The citation noted that "this section of the Library of Congress offers exceptional assistance and support to genealogical researchers." The awards committee chairwoman, Margaret O. Field, wrote, "Because people sometimes take for granted the resources that are looked at as rightfully theirs without question or acknowledgement, the National Genealogical Society felt it appropriate to recognize the Local History and Genealogy Section for its contribution to genealogy and its related fields."

Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris
Announces Renovation Disruptions

The Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris has announced that during the second half of this year and all of 1987, construction work will take place in its building facing the rue Richelieu, affecting service in the Rare Book Division in the Department of Printed Books. These modifications will entail considerable and prolonged disruptions in service, according to the library. The rare book reading room (la salle de travail de la Réserve des Livres rares et précieux) will be closed for at least 18 months. Substitute locations for consultation are planned, but these will have a greatly reduced number of seats. The delivery of materials will be slower and restricted, and at certain times, completely interrupted.

In the construction work, the rare book reading room will be enlarged, a documentation center will be installed, and the amount of shelf space for reference books will be doubled. In addition, a microform reading room for the Department of Printed Books will be created on the lower floor of the same building.

The Bibliothèque Nationale has said that it is taking all measures to reduce the inconveniences experienced by readers. It suggests that readers seek (Continued on p. 316)