Books are earthquake proof. Fallen Books is a project we
began while collecting before and after images. The project
functions both as a survey and as a sequence of latent signs
pointing to specific libraries and the copy of Fallen Books
in their collection. The book is both an archive and a forecast.
This collection of photographs of libraries after earthquakes
is accompanied by locations, dates and the relative intensity
of the earthquakes as measured by the Modified Mercalli
Scale. The Modified Mercalli Scale is a descriptive and graphic
alternative to the Richter Scale that quantifies the intensity
of an earthquake and its effect on the Earth’s surface,
hu-mans, man-made objects, and nature, on a scale of I through
XII. Topographic maps of earthquake areas use the Mercalli
Scale color code to indicate how far away from the epicenter
the earthquake was felt and to what degree of intensity.
A copy of Fallen Books can be found in the libraries featured
in this publication.
Melissa Dubbin & Aaron S. Davidson
Preface
Olympia, USA
April 949
Some books fell in the library.
Hollister, USA
08 April 96
9
San Fernando Valley State College Library Good Friday / Alaska, USA
San Fernando / Sylmar, USA
09 February 9
Carol Nishijima and Roberta Ishihara, Gardena High School
students, begin the massive job of sorting and re-shelving
books at the Los Angeles Public Library’s depository at 134
Glendale Boulevard. Several hundred student volunteers
have cleaned up more than 100,000 books at the downtown
branch and are hard at work on the remaining 61 branches.
University of California Santa Barbara Library
09 February 9
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Library Santa Barbara / Goleta, USA
Livermore, USA
24 January 980
9
Mammoth Elementary School Library Livermore, USA
2
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Library
2 May 980
2
University of California Berkeley Library Kaoiki, USA
2
Stanford University School of Business Library Loma Prieta, USA
2
Bookshelves in the Stanford libraries toppled like dominoes.
In the days that followed, library volunteers and staff began
the daunting task of reshelving some 750,000 volumes.
Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library Loma Prieta, USA
29
Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library Upland, USA
Upland, USA Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library
Note the bracing attached to the tops of stacks did not
prevent shelving collapse.
Upland, USA Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library
Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library Upland, USA
Upland, USA Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library
9
Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library Upland, USA
4
Claremont Colleges Honnold / Mudd Library Upland, USA
4 Upland, USA
28 February 990
4 Landers, USA
28 June 992
4 Landers, USA
28 June 992
49 Landers, USA
28 June 992
Location is the 4th floor, subjecting the shelving to the most
severe shaking in the building.
Landers, USA28 June 992
Landers, USA
28 June 992
Landers, USA
28 June 992
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
9
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
6
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
6
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
6
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
6
Broken spines and book pages separated from their covers.
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
69
University of California Riverside Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
28 June 992
Santa Monica High School Library
28 June 992 Big Bear, USA
Northridge, USA
January 994
Northridge, USA
January 994
9 Northridge, USA
January 994
8 Northridge, USA
January 994
8 Northridge, USA
January 994
8 Northridge, USA
January 994
8 Northridge, USA
January 994
89 Northridge, USA
January 994
9 Northridge, USA
January 994
9 Northridge, USA
January 994
9 Northridge, USA
January 994
9 Northridge, USA
January 994
99 Northridge, USA
January 994
0 Northridge, USA
January 994
0 Northridge, USA
January 994
0 Northridge, USA
January 994
0 Northridge, USA
January 994
09 Northridge, USA
January 994
Northridge, USA
January 994
Northridge, USA
January 994
Northridge, USA
January 994
Northridge, USA
January 994
9 Northridge, USA
January 994
2 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
2 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
2 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
2 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
29 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
9 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
4 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
4 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
4 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
4 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
49 Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Hanshin-Awaji, Japan
January 99
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
9 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
6 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
6
Cheryl Heywood, community librarian for the Olympia
Timberland Library, looks over earthquake damage at the
downtown library on Thursday. “The library is closed until
further notice,” she said.
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
6 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
6 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
69
The library had already started weeding books from its
selection prior to the quake, having removed 73,000 volumes
in the past year. Resorting fallen books has proven helpful in
the project to remove unneeded books.
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
9 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
8 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
8 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
8
Congressional hearings on the floor.
Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
8 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
89 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
9 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
9 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
9 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
9 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
99 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
20 Nisqually, USA
28 February 200
20 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
20 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
20 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
209 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
2 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
2 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
2 San Jose, USA
0 October 200
2 Gisborne, New Zealand
20 December 200
29 Gisborne, New Zealand
20 December 200
22
A number of buildings will need demolishing, many homes will
need repairs and tonnes of glass and crockery have been lost.
Everyone agrees on one thing ... in the words of Civil Defence
Controller, Jon Davies ‘I think we have actually come out of
this one quite luckily’ It could have been a lot worse.
Gisborne, New Zealand
20 December 200
22 Gisborne, New Zealand
20 December 200
Colophon
A Project by
© 2008 Melissa Dubbin & Aaron S. Davidson Brooklyn, New York All rights reserved Graphic Design Francesca Grassi Published by onestar press
16 rue Trolley de Prévaux 75013 Paris France [email protected] www.onestarpress.com ISBN 2-91535 9-30-X Edition /500 Printed at Cassochrome, Waregem www.csc.be Printed in Belgium Special Thanks Colleen E. Allen Dave Balcom Ami Barak Christophe Boutin Kristin Cheney Carolyn Cole Susan C. Curzon Sheryl Davis Marc Eberhard Susan Fatemi Marc Ganzglass Herrick Heitman Kathleen Hertel-Baker Pierre Huyghe Tabara Katsunori Bridget Kowalczyk Betty Mason Bob Menanteaux Marie Mestas Cynni Murphy Lorraine Oback Kara Phillips Mélanie Scarciglia Randolph Stilson Kelly Stoker Arthur G. Sylvester Pene Walsh
A very special thanks to Francesca Grassi for her dedication, enthusiasm and her essential contributions to this project
Images Courtesy
National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering, EERC, University of California, Berkeley
[Page 3]
Anchorage Museum Library and Archives, Alaska [Page 7 (B69.11.22)] California State University Northridge, Oviatt Library, Special Collections and Archives
[Page xxxx]
Los Angeles Public Library, California
[Page 7]
University of California Santa Barbara Libraries
[Page 9]
Photograph by Larry Parsons National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Natural Hazards Image Earthquake Collection at NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center
[Page 11, 13, 17]
Photograph by J.D. Griggs Mono Herald and Mammoth Times, Mammoth Lakes, California
[Page 15]
Inland Empire Libraries Disaster Response Network, University of California, Riverside
[Page 19, 23-45, 53-67] Stanford News Service, Stanford University, California [Page 21]
Photograph by Chuck Painter San Bernardino Valley College, California
[Page 49, 51]
Photograph by Marie Mestas Santa Monica High School 1994 Yearbook
[Page 69]
Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives, California [Page 71-109]
California State University Northridge, Oviatt Library, Special Collections and Archives
[Page 5, 111-113] pp. 115-147
Earthquake Digital Disaster Archive of Kobe University, Japan
[Page 115-147]
Seattle University School of Law, Washington [Page 149-155]
Colophon The Olympian, Olympia,
Washington [Page 157, 158]
Photograph by Mike Salsbury Caption Ruth Longoria University of Washington Fisheries-Oceanography Library, Seattle, Washington [Page 159-163] University of Washington Physics-Astronomy Library, Seattle, Washington [Page 165, 167] Photograph by Mark McDermott and Peter Shaffer University of Washington Engineering Library [Page 169-183]
Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections, Olympia, Washington
[Page 185, 187]
Photograph by Carlos A. Diaz [Page 201-211]
Photograph by Barbara Bergquist
[Page xxxx]
Photograph by Steve Davis Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San José, California [Page 209-213]
Photograph by Rebecca Feind and Carole Correa-Morris H. B. Williams Memorial Library, Gisborne, Aotearoa, New Zealand
[Page 215, 221]
Photograph by Dylan Walsh Munro
[Page 217, 219] Photograph by Anna
Williamson
The Seattle Times, Washington [Page 217, 219]
Photograph by Vic Condiotty Images are © of the organiza-tions listed above and are reprinted with permission In making this publication anumber of texts have been used for which copyright holders could not be contact-ed. In these cases, we presume such texts belong to the public domain. If you claim ownership of any of the texts presented here and have not been properly identified, please notify us and we will be happy to make a formal acknowledgement in all future editions.
