Dan has created a tutorial page for the Toolkit (see above)!  The first tutorial is one he recorded today, which provides a tour of this site, pointing out the features much as he does when teaching a class about the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness initiative.  Just click on the “Tutorials” page above, then click the link to the tutorial.  Dan will update the tutorial as events unfold or as seasons change and warrant new current awareness situations or as new resources become available.  Let us know what you think!

As we know, there are many web sites that provide valuable information about emergency preparedness and response, a case in point being the CDC site which we mentioned earlier. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the “mother ship” of other government sites we have mentioned and linked to the toolkit (CDC, Ready.gov, etc.), is another one. The HHS site gathers together the many federal resources that are available to us, weaving them together by topic, and highlighting some we may have missed in looking at other sites, such as the “Emergency Managers National Situation Update” , which is on the FEMA site. The site covers a tremendous amount of territory, but is organized to make information readily available. There’s a lot there that can help us with risk assessment and other preparedness activities for our libraries and localities.

In the interest of helping NN/LM members to put together a concrete plan based on the “10 Steps to Service Continuity” training, I’ve created a template that members can use to draw up a basic plan for their libraries or information centers.  It is attached to the “10 Steps to Service Continuity” page here on the toolkit (see the menu bar above) as a Word document.  Anyone is welcome to download it and customize it at they see fit.  I hope it will serve as a good starting point for us in trying to meet our goal of having plans in place, and that it will be especially helpful to smaller libraries, hospital libraries, or other entities who may not need a comprehensive disaster plan.

The template is designed to focus on service continuity, but it does include space for some personal safety and preservation information.  My goal was to keep the template on standard size paper (8 1/2 x 11), so that nothing special would be required for printing.  I introduced the template to the Tidewater Health Sciences Librarians group two weeks ago, and in discussing it, we realized that the template would be a good thing to complete, print and post in our work areas, especially in smaller libraries that are minimally staffed, or staffed part-time by volunteers who would profit by having the information close by in an emergency.

The 10 Steps template is an addition to the other ones available here and elsewhere, such as PReP, dPlan, and the customized PReP developed by Julie Page and Deborah Halsted (see the Disaster Plan Templates page, menu above), and isn’t intended to replace any of them.  Rather, it is intended to provide another option, given that no two institutions are alike, and needs for emergency planning vary accordingly.  One of this year’s initiatives for NN/LM will be to focus on best ways to help hospital libraries, and we hope that the 10 Steps template will be a good start.

Click here to see a page that gives an excellent explanation of what a table-top exercise is, and how to create and run one.  The author is Joe Olivo, of Strohl Consulting Services.  Joe is a Certified Business Continuity Planner, and while the page notes that he has consulted with financial institutions, law firms, and businesses, I think that his advice can be easily adapted for just about any type of institution, including libraries large and small.  It’s a good example of providing information that is general enough to be adapted, while specific enough to be helpful. 

I particularly like this part:  “Based upon the effectiveness of the pre-exercise meetings, the exercise will almost run by itself with team members knowing what has to be accomplished. Exercising is a primary means of training. In any actual recovery effort, the best team members are usually those who have participated in exercises.”

We are beginning monthly training sessions here at UVa’s HSL with staff who are responsible for emergency response, using a table-top exercise each month for a different scenario.  The first scenario was an epidemic of influenza, in which the library’s staffing was compromised.  We talked through how the library would be opened, how to determine if it should stay open, how core services would be maintained, how patrons would be notified if necessary.  We were able to address questions about communication and availablility of various resources, among others, and found the exercise to be quite helpful.  Our staff enjoyed working through the scenario, and felt better prepared to respond afterward.

Dan also used table-top exercises in training sessions for NN/LM’s RML staff and emergency response coordinators this year, and the exercises were very effective in helping everyone understand their roles and how the established plan would be implemented across a given scenario and by the various “players.”  Many thanks to Joe Olivo and Strohl for making this information available in such an accessible format.

Those of us who viewed the MLA Fall webcast this week saw Julie Page showing a version of the Pocket Response Plan (PReP) from the Council of State Archivists that she and Deborah Halsted have customized for use by health sciences libraries.  Click on the link below  to access the form from the toolkit, and the form will also be added to the toolkit page, “Disaster Plan Templates/Samples.”

PReP form for HSLs

While we are anticipating the “end” of hurricane season, it’s a good time to take stock of our current situations–are our plans up-to-date?  Is it time to start putting a plan together for your library?  Do we need to squirrel away some extra supplies, like plastic sheeting or flashlight batteries?  We’re fortunate to have so many excellent resources available to help us in our emergency preparedness efforts, and here’s a reminder of two rich sources for guidance and some checklists to keep us on target:

SOLINET:  their site has been re-designed.  Go to the Resources section, the Preservation tab, then check out the Disaster Resources page, linked in the left side menu bar.  Very comprehensive information; I recommend a “shopping” approach if you don’t need the whole store.  Some interesting classes coming up, too…I’m taking the one on Risk Management in November.

NEDCC:  here’s the link to their page listing all the Preservation leaflets that are available from the site…scroll down on the page to Emergency Management to find their process for disaster planning as well as a “fill-in-the-blank” disaster plan.

Happy shopping!

Heritage Emergency National Task Force, the folks who brought us the “Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel” and lots of other helpful advice and information, has a new page up on their site called Current Disaster Information , which gathers together many resources aimed specifically at dealing with damage from hurricanes and other powerful weather events and natural disasters.  The page also has a section where cultural institutions can submit damage reports and request assistance, along with the capability to view reports/requests already submitted.  Also, look for the free, downloadable “Guide to Navigating FEMA and SBA Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions,” a little farther down the page.  This is a rich site, and deserves a close look at the many resources they have provided.  Thanks, Heritage Emergency TF!

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.

Heidi Sandstrom, Associate Director of the Pacific Southwest Region, facilitated availability of our first sample disaster plan for a hospital library.  Please look on the “Disaster Plan Templates/Samples” page (see link in menu above) for the contribution from Joy Graham at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.  Thanks, Heidi and Joy!

While most of us wouldn’t consider our libraries to be businesses in the traditional sense, we do have some similar features and some shared needs, especially when it comes to planning for business/service continuity.  The Homeland Security website has an excellent “Plan to Stay in Business” list for businesses, and if you click on the Continuity Planning link from that page, you will find a more detailed list of activities to help you prepare for an unplanned service disruption.  Also available from the Continuity Planning page is their Sample Emergency Plan.  It is available in PDF format, which you can quickly fill out right there and then print.  Network members will have to do some adapting to make it fit their needs, but it is certainly a great way to help us think through what we need to do.  Everyone who has been in any of the training sessions already for the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan will recognize most of what is presented on the Ready.gov site, so the site is helpful as a review, also.