A portion of the museum's collection, specifically the herbarium, and fish and reptile species, was housed elsewhere and has not been affected. There was also a large scientific library within the museum, containing thousands of rare works. People on social media were reported to have found burnt pages from the library in the nearby streets; it was later confirmed that the library proper is housed in an adjacent building and was mostly undamaged. Some burnt pages, of unknown origin, were recovered by security guards. Nine Torah scrolls from the 15th century had previously been on display but were in the library at the time and survived.