For training NN/LM network members in emergency preparedness, NN/LM has chosen to focus on continuation of patron service during and after an incident rather than on the traditional focus of disaster planning, which was preservation and salvage of library collections.  To that end, the “10 Steps to Service Continuity” class is being offered both virtually, via Adobe Connect, and face-to-face by NN/LM trainers throughout the country.  Please see below for a recorded version of a past class as well as the template that has been designed to accompany the class.

If you are interested in hosting or attending a “10 Steps” class, or in receiving other assistance in emergency preparedness, please contact your regional NN/LM office (click on the “NN/LM Home” or the main header above the toolkit banner to find contact information for your region), or contact the toolkit administrators (contact information on the “About Us” page).

Click here to view slide show presentation of “A 10-Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning” that Dan Wilson used for a virtual class he presented to Network members of the Pacific Southwest and Mid-Continental regions of the NN/LM.

NN/LM Template for 10-Step Approach to Service Continuity

10 Steps to Service Continuity:

Step 1: Assess risks

Make a list of events for which your library could be at risk.

• talk with long-term staff members at your library and gather anecdotal information about emergencies or disasters that have happened in the past. Add to the list such emergencies as fire and bio-terrorism that may not have happened but which can happen anytime and anywhere.
• check federal, state and local emergency preparedness web sites for more information about potential emergency events

Map of Presidential Disaster Declarations 1964-2007

Step 2: Protect yourself, your staff, and your patrons

• develop written procedures, specific to your building and environment, to provide for safety of people in the building in the event of an emergency; i.e. shelter-in-place procedures for tornadoes, dealing with a violent incident, preventing mold growth on wet materials, medical emergency, evacuating the building, standing water/flooded areas, chemical spill, and epidemics
• provide training to everyone who works in the building to be familiar with the procedures, hold periodic drills

Step 3: Determine your core services

Identify services that would be most needed immediately following some kind of major service disruption (i.e. Interlibrary Loan, bibliographic searches, reference help).

Step 4: Create procedures for remote access to core services

Based on your list of core services, develop strategies for maintaining access to these services from an off-site location (i.e. someone’s home or a temporary location away from your building).

Step 5: Determine your core electronic resources

Identify electronic resources that would be most needed immediately following a disaster (i.e. Medline, CINAHL, UpToDate, DynaMed, MDConsult, Stat!Ref.

Step 6: Develop a continuity of access plan for your essential electronic resources

Find out whether back-up power would be available, and whether access to internet-based resources and your home page would be possible. If back-up power would be available, find out how long this would be the case.

Houston Academy of Medicine — Texas Medical Center Colocation Project

Step 7: Identify your core print collection

• list and prioritize print materials which would likely be needed by your patrons if your core online materials were not available (i.e. textbooks, reference materials, core journals)
• create a salvage “map” using a floorplan of your library, showing where core print materials are stored or shelved

Step 8: Identify your unique resources

List unique resources, such as institutional records, historical materials and artifacts, and works of art. Note in your disaster plan where these resources are located in the building and how they can be accessed by library staff or first-responders.

Step 9: Proactively plan for the recovery of your unique resources

• based on your list of unique resources, determine which ones you would be willing to spend a significant amount of money on, in order to save them in the event that they are damaged in a disaster
• contact a commercial salvage company (i.e. BMS, Munters, Belfor) to get an idea about costs involved in saving these materials, should freeze-drying, mold abatement, or other services be required
• remember that mold will normally grow on wet materials in about 48 hours, and sometimes less, depending on the environment–the best way to save valuable materials that are wet is to freeze them, thus stopping the growth of mold until they can be professionally treated

Step 10: Know how to obtain outside assistance

• develop a relationship with a back-up library
• call a 24/7 emergency assistance service for damaged paper collections (NEDCC, WESTPAS, SOLINET, AMIGOS, etc.)
• NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit: http://nnlm.gov/ep
• NN/LM Regional Offices: 1-800-DEV-ROKS