14.2 Disaster Preparedness In General

Disaster Preparedness begins with a threat assessment and subsequently taking some common preventive measures to avoid loss.

14.2.A Threat Assessment

Often, you can avoid or minimize the damage caused by a disaster by proactively examining the possible threats or risks to your library collection and building. Think about common disasters that may occur in your occur in your area. Water is the most common destructive force affecting libraries. Is the area prone to hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods? If the library is in an earthquake zone, are the shelves bolted and reinforced? What is the condition of the library building? Are there structural defects or other problems in the facility? Is the electrical wiring in good working order? Are there changes in temperature and humidity that encourage the growth of mold and mildew? Does the building have plumbing or drainage problems? Realistically assess the condition of the library’s building and immediate area. Should a disaster occur in the future, what actions can you take in advance to lessen the damage?

14.2.B Prevention

There are common preventive measures that your depository can take to help avoid the loss of materials.

• Materials should be shelved at least six inches above the floor.
• No valuable materials should be stored in areas prone to flooding.
• Keep rare or valuable materials away from windows.
• Hang fire extinguishers in accessible areas and train staff how to use them. Include their location in the depository floor plan.
• Include fire exits and fire alarm pulls on the floor plan.
• Keep storage areas uncluttered and store materials off the floor.
• Do not block aisles or exits.
• Maintain a temperature of less than 70 degrees and a humidity level of less than 50 percent to discourage the formation of mold and mildew.
• Restrict food to certain areas of the library building, and empty trash cans daily.
• Install water-sensing alarms in areas susceptible to flooding.
• Install a sprinkler system, if appropriate. A sprinkler system may not be appropriate for some collections but should be considered when planning renovations or new buildings.

14.2.C Other Preventive Measures

Other preventive measures you can take include:

• An important preventive measure is electronic backup of digital data. If your library has a regularly scheduled server backup with a backup-and-recovery service, bibliographic records for depository materials in the library’s electronic files should be included and duplicated offsite. Personal computer files, account numbers and passwords, processing procedures, the depository disaster plan, electronic shelf lists, and other items that are essential to depository operation NEED to be saved on CD-ROMs, zip drives, or external hard drives and stored away from the library building.
• If possible, rare or important depository materials that exist only in tangible format should be digitized. They can then be saved and backed up on electronic media. Additionally, identify rare depository materials and consider housing those in the rare books or special collections departments in the library.
• Insurance companies may want to know exactly which titles or how many publications were destroyed. In many depositories, only selected holdings are reflected in the online catalog. Ideally, Kardex files, shelf list files, and other important paper files should be digitized or duplicated. If these files were to be destroyed, it would be difficult to determine which materials were in the collection.
• High priority publications are items that are of great importance to the depository collection. These publications should to be considered first when developing preventative measures. If it is not possible to put preventative measures into place to avoid their damage, then these materials should be salvaged first and should be included along with a description and the call numbers on the depository emergency floor plan. Make sure the emergency floor plan and the location of those high priority publications are available to your fire department. They will usually make an effort to save what you consider most important. Here's a checklist to help you identify high priority publications:
  
  
  • Is the publication a rare or important item?
  • Is the publication needed to continue service to patrons at a temporary location?
  • Is the material available in another format, such as online?
  • Is the publication accessible at another depository library in your local service area?
  • Does the item require immediate attention?
  • Would replacement cost more or less than restoration?
  • Does the printing or paper coating of the publication require special handling?

14.2.D Insurance

• Insuring the value of the Government documents collection against loss is imperative to successful disaster recovery. According to the Principle of Comparable Treatment, your depository collection should be given the same level of insurance protection as the rest of the larger library’s collections. Keep in mind that insurance companies have a variety of methods for valuing collections, and you should be consulted when valuing Government publications, including depository items housed at other locations. The ownership of the Federal publications and the library’s responsibility for replacing them NEEDS to be made clear in discussions concerning insurance. It is incumbent on your library’s administration to make certain the policy covers materials entrusted to the care of the library as well as materials owned by the library.
• Often, replacements for historical collections such as the Congressional Serial Set will necessitate a large outlay of funds for digital or microfiche replacement. Large runs of statistical publications may also require much more than the average price per publication allowed under the insurance policy. Plans range from very sophisticated valuation schemes taking into account price per unit by date published and processing costs, to simple valuations of a more minimal average price per item. When negotiating the insurance coverage, consulting with the depository coordinator will improve the library’s chances for adequate replacements of core and high priority publications in the collection.
• In keeping statistics of holdings, be as detailed as possible. Statistics may be categorized by format of the publication and whether the items were received on deposit, received as gifts, or purchased. Consider listing rare or valuable material separately. The more detailed the collection statistics are, the easier it will be for you to calculate insurance valuation or replacement costs in the event of a disaster.
• Photo documentation of the depository collection prior to a disaster is essential in documenting the quantity and condition of the collection, furniture, and equipment. Insurance companies may require this sort of documentation.