Japan Earthquake: Damage To Japanese Libraries

Though the toll on human lives from the Japan earthquake is inconceivable, there is something heartbreaking about seeing the treasured books that have likely been read by many of these individuals scattered and in complete disarray. Take a look at this link for images of damage to libraries around Japan.

Comments

[levresamant]

04:53 PM on 03/14/2011

Ebooks make so much sense

[Glory 66]

04:04 PM on 03/14/2011

I completely understand your attention to library;if someone found himself in doubt regarding all the human victims there,and is it properly putting the pictures of the "poor' books as main headline,i say ;just bring your memory into life with the events from remote past,remember of Alexandria or all catastrophic nature disasters to sweep away precious libraries,or even ones to be burn.Wasn't it that we all mourned about all the books destroyed and lost forever?
I am grateful for talent i have,to write some nice stories,and one day when i have gone,everyone who never met me,would know me by my written words.
i appreciate every one who took time to put these pictures online.

[LisaCACO]

03:32 PM on 03/14/2011

heartbreaking.

[sirpsychosapien]

03:31 PM on 03/14/2011

surprising number of books left on those shelves...

[Six Gator]

01:45 PM on 03/14/2011

oh my, BOOKS were affected too?..WOW!...that WAS a bad Earthquake!....

I believe, now!

[Amber Troska]

10:32 AM on 03/14/2011

If the major damage consists of books being tossed from the shelves, which the pictures overwhelmingly depict, then these libraries got off very easy. I'm sure there are others that weren't pictured (and I did not closely scan every photo), that suffered actual structural damage, or even complete annihilation, but these photos merely show the inconvenience of having to re-shelve books. Humanity is the primary concern in this tragedy, but preserving ones culture and community through the library is important too, so I can see why people would give attention to something that would seem so minor in the scheme of things, especially if any of the libraries housing old and important pieces were damaged.

[skepticarpenter]

08:56 AM on 03/14/2011

Is this headline/story a joke or something? I mean really.

[Amy Hertz]

11:14 AM on 03/14/2011

In the middle of disaster and tremendous loss, people felt moved enough to take the time to share these pictures. We thought it was worth highlighting something that many felt were important to them.

[Amy Hertz]

11:16 AM on 03/14/2011

Forgive grammar slip: "were" should be "was"