We had a meeting on Friday with Lynn Davis and her staff in the Preservation Department. They showed us two map presses and a drying rack that Kyle Hamada custom-made to use when drying the maps that went through the flood. Each map will be washed and drained, then placed on a drying rack to partially air dry. Next, the maps will be laid in a press with layers of reemay to complete the drying and flattening process. Finally, the maps will be placed in large acid-free folders and filed into map cases.

 

We also discussed the enormous job of foldering and filing all of the 40,000 or so cleaned maps that will be returned from Belfor in April, not to mention foldering and filing all of the replacement maps we've acquired in the past year. The size of these projects is overwhelming, but we'll do it!