The above quote is from this article, which provides some very helpful suggestions for maintaining services after a disaster, taken from a business model, but they can also be applied to a library setting.

The above quote is from this article, which provides some very helpful suggestions for maintaining services after a disaster, taken from a business model, but they can also be applied to a library setting.

Here’s an interesting exercise: gather the department heads in your library and ask them what are the most essential services that your department offers.  To facilitate the discussion, you might want to frame the question in a scenario-type situation, such as what services do you provide that would have a great impact on your patrons if the library needed to close due to a severe storm.

We performed this exercise last week with an interesting outcome.  The following four services were identified as essential: availability of library’s web page, providing access to online journals, checking out laptops or projectors to someone that needed equipment for a conference, and providing patient care document delivery.  The group felt that all other services we provide could withstand a day of closing without much of an impact on our patrons.

Your results may differ based on your environment.  Please let us know what you discover.

Here’s a nice article on BCP in a hospital setting, with patient care as its focus.

Susan found this website while researching “business continuity” plans on the web.  It is a publication aimed at Chief Security Officers in businesses, whose job is to keep information technology available as well as provide for the safety of people, but many of the principles they discuss apply equally well to libraries.  Check out some of the links at the bottom of the article for some enlightening true stories of emergencies as well as drills and precautionary steps taken by many large, world-wide companies.

Here’s a clip from a First Business news report over the summer about business continuity planning.  Note the part about having staff at other sites that can do the work of your staff.  Perhaps we should be forming partnerships with units (e.g. interlibrary loan) from other libraries to serve as temporary backups in the event of a disaster.

In the business world, disaster planning is often referred to as business continuity planning (BCP). Wikipedia has a nice article on BCP. Is continuity planning addressed in your disaster plan?