Recently, there have been several stories in the news about emergencies or disasters that have befallen libraries, most notably the flooding in Louisville, KY, which devastated the lower level of the Louisville Free Public Library (story here), destroying “tens of thousands” of books, and several vehicles, including two bookmobiles. 

Other stories include one about a public library in Scotch Plains, NJ, which was stuck by a car that veered off the street nearby and took out a wall in the children’s collection area (story here).  Even  though the incident happened while the library was open, no one inside the library was injured, and aside from the wall of the building and the shelving that was destroyed, even the collection escaped significant damage.  The librarian was very grateful to the first responders from the fire department and police, as well as the public works personnel who helped after the emergency.  The article noted that the library had installed tempered glass windows, which did not break on impact–a helpful thing to think about if your building is located close to a road.

In Fort Lauderdale, FL, the main public library sustained water damage last week when their overhead sprinkler system was being tested, accidentally releasing water that flowed down through an atrium to the lower level (story here).   The variety of this particular spate of emergencies affecting libraries highlights the fact that even though we believe that preparedness activities are important, we really can’t anticipate everything!  However, in each case, the library’s leadership and staff managed the situation well and coordinated with outside responders to help mitigate the effects.  The Director of the Louisville Free Public Library, Craig Buthod, says their best lesson learned is to “hire good people,” commending his own staff as well as the mitigation contractor for their good work.

Fortunately for Hawaii, Tropical Storm Felicia, formerly Hurricane Felicia, has slowed in speed and lessened in intensity, but she is still expected to pass over the Hawaiian islands today, just missing the Big Island, but making landfall on the central islands of Oahu and Maui, according to the National Weather Service.  Forecasters predict sustained winds of about 40 mph along with rain, but rainfall will not be as torrential as they originally thought.  However, many schools, parks and beaches are already closed as the islands brace for the storm.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also cautions us (click here for the story) not to be lulled into complacency because of the perceived “slow start” to the Atlantic hurricane season, as the peak months for big storms, August and September, are just coming up.  So check out those disaster plans supplies, both at work and at home (click here for NOAA’s hurricane preparedness advice), and keep an eye on the forecast!

The Emergency Preparedness & Response Committee for the Southeastern/Atlantic Region (SE/A) of NN/LM met at the Embassy Suites near the University of South Florida, in Tampa, FL on July 14, amongst live oak trees with Spanish moss and crepe myrtle trees in full bloom–a Southern summer in full swing!  To see the State Coordinators, check out the picture in the Photo Gallery (not pictured–the West Virginia Coordinator).  In addition to the Region’s State Coordinators for emergency preparedness, the SE/A RML was represented by Executive Director Janice Kelly and Network Coordinator and Emergency Preparedness & Response Coordinator Beth Wescott.  During the morning session, the group heard an overview and updates on the past year’s progress of the NN/LM National Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan from Dan Wilson, Coordinator of the National plan.  Following Dan’s presentation, all state coordinators reported on the status of preparedness in their areas, which had all been fortunate during the past year, having escaped major damage or service disruption from hurricanes or tornadoes, two of the highest risks for the region.  Following the state reports from Maryland, D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Puerto Rico, all the state coordinators participated in the ”train the trainer” session for the “10-Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning” for health sciences libraries and information centers, providing some excellent feedback on the new curriculum materials.  SE/A representatives scored high, almost across the board, in the risk assessment exercise, due to the number of weather-related risks as well as port cities, and chemical and nuclear facilities. 

During and after lunch, Dan facilitated a discussion about issues to be addressed in the region such as methods of communication, “buddy library” relationships, and the roles of the RML and the state coordinators.   The consensus was that the group is well-positioned for continued progress with regard to promoting emergency preparedness in the states and across the region, and plans are underway for hosting and teaching classes and representing the initative within local and regional groups.

Recently, Dan has made two presentations, as an invited speaker, that featured the importance of service continuity planning for libraries, and in both cases he used the scenario of social distancing in response to the H1N1 influenza virus (see info from the CDC) as a basis.  Some experts are warning that H1N1 may re-surge in the northern hemisphere early this fall, well before the tradional flu season, so it’s important that we remain aware of the potential risks from a more widespread epidemic than we have seen so far, and that we keep the banner of service continuity moving forward.

On July 9, Dan addressed the monthly conference call hosted by NLM’s Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC), giving an overview of this year’s activities of the NN/LM’s emergency preparedness initiative, and featuring the Hospital Librarians Summit which was held in Chicago in April (click here to see the posting about this).  Other highlights of this year have been conducting training meetings with NN/LM staff and state coordinators in the PNR, SCR, GMR, PSR and SE/A regions, enhancing the Toolkit, and developing promotional materials.  Several participants on the call confirmed that the training has been very effective so far, and “buy-in” from NN/LM members has been excellent.

On July 17, Dan addressed the annual Interlibrary Loan Forum of the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) at Sweet Briar College in Lynchburg, VA.  Working from the NN/LM’s emergency preparedness plan, which emphasizes service continuity, especially for Interlibrary Loan services, Dan presented the procedures that have been established through a partnership between the Health Sciences Libraries at the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for providing back-up ILL services for each other in an emergency, and which are transparent to library users.  While the audience represented all types of academic libraries in Virginia, it included several who are NN/LM members.  Click ILL Backup Plan VIVA to see Dan’s slides from the VIVA Forum.

If you would like more information about the ILL backup plan between the two libraries or about training for service continuity, please contact one of us (see the “About Us” tab at the top of the page).

Recently, Dan put out a query to the Disaster Information Outreach Listserv (see link in the right menu bar under “Core Resources”), asking subscribers to consider what print books they would want to keep available for use after a disaster which affects internet accessibility, and to send him their lists.  After compiling responses, he came up with the “one-shelf disaster library” pictured below.  (Click the image to see the larger version and to see the titles.)  Obtaining this informal consensus and identifying these core texts is a great first step toward helping health sciences libraries determine which materials they may want to keep in print, since so many are becoming “virtual only.”

Many thanks to the participants who responded, and to NLM’s Disaster Information Management Research Center for providing the forum for gathering this important information.  If anyone did not yet respond to the original question and would like to contribute, feel free to send email to me or to Dan (see the “Who we are” tab above for email addresses).  Preparedness is an ongoing and iterative process!       

Click here to see a great page from NOAA about tornadoes, especially the global map showing where most tornadoes occur.  The page contains a wealth of other information–see the charts on times of day and night that tornadoes have been reported, the explanation of “Tornado Alley” and “Dixie Alley,” and other helpful info for risk assessment activities. 

Also check out a new link in the “Risk Assessment Info and Maps” section of the right side menu here on the Toolkit called “Weather Disasters,” for a newly added map indicating weather-related damage to states in the contiguous 48.

The “10-Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning” class, created by the Coordinator and Project Assistant for the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan, has been approved by the Medical Library Association (MLA) for 2 hours of Continuing Education credit, awarded at the conclusion of the class.  To view information about the class, check here on the MLA Educational Clearinghouse site.  (You can find the class by using “emergency” as the keyword in the search box on the first page of the site.)   If you are interested in arranging a ”10-Step Approach…” class for yourself or a group, contact your NN/LM regional office at 1-800-338-7657.  Classes are offered both face-to-face and virtually.

We met last week (June 22) with NN/LM staff from the Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) in the Louise Darling Biomedical Library at UCLA, along with representatives from the states in their region (see the photo of state representatives in the gallery here on the site).  Attending for the states were:  Amy Knehans from Hawaii, Cinda McClain from Arizona, Triza Crittle from Nevada, and Chapter liaisons Peggy Tahir and Irene Lovas from California.   After an overview of progress of the national plan and reports from the state representatives and NN/LM staff, we presented the recently developed curriculum for use by NN/LM staff in training members in the “10-Step Approach to Service Continuity,” which now includes a new risk assessment exercise and score sheet handout (thanks to the South Central Region for the encouragement to develop this idea!).

Judy Consales, Director, and Julie Kwan, Network Coordinator of the PSR taught a class called “Are You Ready?” in Hawaii, presenting both face-to-face and using AccessGrid, which was quite successful.  In addition to outreach efforts, Heidi Sandstrom, Associate Director, noted that their library has also continued to develop emergency preparedness plans, having recently enhanced signage and room numbers/designations to help with evacuations and troubleshooting in their building.  Jake Nadal, of the UCLA Library’s Preservation Department, spoke to the group about UCLA’s efforts to provide continuous access to digital resources as well as how to plan for preservation of print materials and other library resources.  The day closed with a discussion of goals for the region during the coming year, as well as some questions and ideas to be addressed, as outlined by Heidi.

Once again, we were energized by the excellent collaborative spirit of the NN/LM staff and the state representatives from the PSR, and benefitted from hearing about their successes as well as ideas for improvement of the plan and the resources offered (e.g. the Toolkit and the training materials).  The PSR training meeting was our last NN/LM staff meeting for this contract year, and we can say without reservation that NN/LM Directors, Associate Directors, all NN/LM staff, and the state representatives have been unfailingly enthusiastic, hospitable, creative, and committed to including emergency preparedness in their outreach to NN/LM members.

There are three new brochures available for use in promoting the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan.  There is one that presents an overview of the plan, one that features the Toolkit, and one about the “10-Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning” class.  Check out the new page, “Promotional Materials” here on the Toolkit (see above) for the PDFs of the brochures, and contact your NN/LM office for more information or to arrange a class.

Many thanks to Kathy Murray, who is the Alaska State Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Region of NN/LM, for sending us a report about a recent incident in her library.  Check out our “Reporting Forms” page to see her report and learn about what happened (did you know there may be glycol in the HVAC lines in your building?) and how they kept their core services up and running despite the damage from the leak.