14.4 Disaster Response

This section provides basic information regarding your response to a disaster. While the environment following a disaster is often chaotic, a response MUST occur swiftly to minimize damage and to maximize recovery efforts. To help you respond in a more logical and swift manner, consider the following points.

• Know when to safely re-enter the damaged building and start an initial damage assessment.
• Be familiar with the tips on recovering government materials and develop a disaster recovery report that provides the details of the disaster and loss you experienced.
• Remember to contact Library Services and Content Management (LSCM) to cease shipments in the event that your library cannot receive shipments.
• Resume public services as soon as practical and communicate with other depository libraries about your situation.
• Evaluate the damage and assess the losses, prioritize treatment and/or replacement.
• Process new or replacement material as soon as possible to meet your user needs.

14.4.A Entering the Library Building and Initial Assessment of Damages

You should not enter a damaged library building until appropriate authorities have declared the building safe for entry. Upon entry into the building, locate the area of the Government publications collection and begin an initial assessment of the damage including writing an assessment of the damage as documentation of your loss. Documentation of the damage is very important and should include photos or videos of the damage. Recovery commences with the stabilization of the area in which the government documents collection was housed, followed by the actual recovery of the materials.

14.4.B Documentation of Damage

A photographer should be assigned to document each stage of the disaster and recovery activities. The photographer will record the damaged areas and materials before any recovery efforts take place. Photo documentation should continue throughout the recovery period with the time and date of each photo or video recorded. As depository coordinator, you should document all response and recovery efforts in writing and prepare a detailed report of the disaster for future reference. A report of the damage and recovery efforts should also be posted on e-mail discussion groups such as GOVDOC-L and any local or statewide groups. Other libraries may want to help.

14.4.C Stabilization and Recovery

Below find information regarding stabilization and initial recovery efforts as well as tips for recovering government materials.

• After documentation photos or videos have been made, you will want to work to stabilize the area. Clean up standing water and remove soggy carpet. Try to bring temperature and humidity to recommended levels (65 to 70 degrees and 40 to 50 percent humidity) to deter the formation of mold and mildew. If electricity is available in the building, fans and dehumidifiers are useful for this purpose.
• Familiarity with Federal Government publications (the collection, SuDocs numbers, recordkeeping, etc.) is essential in keeping track of the disposition of the publications that were damaged. You will want to train all library staff on Government publications in advance to ensure that everyone is able to assist with recovery efforts.
• You can locate the items on the high priority publications list, and determine the method of recovery that should be used. There are many salvage options available, but some are very expensive. Find out what your library will allow and plan accordingly. If a recovery service will be used, they may require specific handling instructions. Check with the head of the disaster response team for specific treatment instructions.