LAC have posted the following noticeTuesday, May 20, 2008:
Due to technical problems, our main building at 395 Wellington St. will be closed until further notice.
UPDATE
LAC expect to be open for business on Wednesday May 21.
The CBC reported that "A broken water pipe flooded the main building of Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa early Tuesday morning, closing the building and causing a small amount of damage to some books."
This is just the latest in a long series of water problems in the building. In a March 2002 interview former National Librarian Roch Carrier mentioned there had been 70 previous occurrences. In 1994 over 1,000 books and documents were reported damaged in a flood.
As a result the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has been forced to cancel their May meeting which was to be held in the building.
We now (3 PMish) have the first "report" from tha LAC gods [ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/whats-new/013-343-e.html ]. This "notice" provides little specific information; you would think one was dealing with high level security issues here rather than the reference holdings of a public institution. We now know more abour Senator Edward Kennedy's personal medical condition than what was damaged in the LAC's most recent watery encounter. So much for public communication!
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