I’ve just completed an update of our library’s Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan. (You can also find the plan, along with other sample plans, on the page above devoted to disaster plan templates and samples.) I think the organization is improved and more intuitive, there is clarification of the shelter-in-place procedures, and I added pictures, so that staff will readily recognize some of the places and features mentioned in the text. Some new sections: procedures for Active Shooter/Violent Incident, and a photo documentation of what our collection areas look like now, since we have just completed a major weeding/shifting project. I hope the new plan will be helpful, and please let me know if you have questions or comments about it.

It is good to see (via our statistics page) that visits to this toolkit are increasing weekly, and there are many “clicks” showing on the pages, such as Disaster Plan Templates/Samples and Service Continuity Planning.  Today we are adding a category called “Toolkit Tips,” which we’ll use to highlight new or already existing features of the toolkit.  We hope this will help everyone keep up with the continuing development of the toolkit, as well as uncover some buried treasure!

Tip #1:  Check out the new Google map that links to Library Disaster Stories.  It is located in two places in the toolkit:  in the left column, just past the photos and the Article Archives, and on the Library Disaster Stories page in the top menu bar.  Emily Vardell created the map, linking it to the stories, and worked with Dan to fine-tune its functionality on the toolkit.  Click on the “View Larger Map” link (below the image of the map on this page) to see the entire map, along with a list of the stories and links to them.  The symbols denote what type of disaster or incident is being described; i.e. hurricane, fire, earthquake, terrorism, flooding, tornado, and public health emergency.

We would like to continue adding to our Lessons Learned/Stories Told, so please let us know if you have a story to tell, and especially what you learned from the incident that might help other people prepare.  Contact Dan at danwilson@virginia.edu or Susan at syowell@virginia.edu.