Restoration of damaged materials at the Joso Municipal Library

In September 2015, a torrential downpour collapsed the embankment of the Kinugawa River near Joso-shi in Ibaraki. Flooding from this disaster damaged roughly 30,000 of the 140,000 books at the Joso Municipal Library. These 30,000 volumes included local historical and other rare material that is irreplaceable, and proper restoration of these materials became a priority. The National Diet Library (NDL) cooperated in the restoration of these materials at the request of the Joso Municipal Library and Ibaraki Prefectural Library. The NDL accepted and cleaned or repaired a total of 31 damaged items, which were returned to the Joso Municipal Library on June 28, 2016.

Restoration work: smoothing out wrinkles after washing