On Friday night, January 30, the library of the Academic Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (INION) caught fire in Moscow. Firemen have been trying to extinguish a fire for almost 12 hours.

      The library is considered one of the largest academic libraries in Russia, containing over 14 million books, some of them are in a single exemplar.

      The fire reportedly erupted at around 10 p.m. local time (7 p.m. GMT) on the third floor of the institute, according to the Ministry of Emergencies. Some 2,000 square meters were engulfed in flames, causing the roof to fall in. According to preliminary investigations, the cause of the fire could have been a short circuit, the ministry says. No casualties have been reported.

      The fire haven's damaged a book depository and most books weren't lost, according to INION's director Yury Pivovarov and the library's head Viktor Glukhov. However, the part of manuscripts could be filled with water. Many people close to the Institute and library are now questioning its future, calling the accident a great loss both for science and culture.

      The library was founded in 1918, and have become home to more than 14 million books, including rare texts in ancient Slavic languages, as well as documents from the League of Nations, UNESCO, and parliamentary reports from foreign countries including the US, dating back as far as 1789.