YEs - advance planning is key. At the Univ. of Hawaii library's 2004
flood, our Preservation Dept. was on the scene very quickly and followed
their disaster plan protocols. They (especially the Dept. head) achieved
and orchestrated miracles, thus saving a great deal of material that got
wet, as well as the rest of the building's contents threatened by mold.

We had dealt with overflowing toilets, roof leaks and other minor problems
over the years but had no idea that a flood of that magnitude was
possible. People who had lived in the area for more than 60 years never
experienced anything remotely as bad as that day. Nobody could have
predicted the confluence of circumstances that caused our diaster, but our
pre-planning paid off.

|((|  Ellen Chapman, MLS, MA, CA
|))|  Archives & Manuscripts Department
|((|  University of Hawaii at Manoa Library
|))|  (808) 944-7656






On Tue, 11 Jul 2006, Russell Baker wrote:

> Dear Colleagues:
> Here is my two cents worth:
> Ask the archives, museums, and libraries in New Orleans about the need
> for disaster preparedness. In my humble opinion, advance planning is the
> key to survival, whither we are talking about a person, a family, a
> community, or a public institution. In some cases, a good round table
> discussion about possibilities and what to do afterwards may be enough.
> However, the larger the institution the more advanced planning needed.
> And then there is the questions of recovery after the disaster ....
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Russell P. Baker, CA
> Archival Manager
> Arkansas History Commission and State Archives
> One Capitol Mall
> Little Rock, AR 72201
> 501-682-6900
> www.ark-ives.com
> [log in to unmask]
> This electronic message transmission contains information from the
> Arkansas History Commission and State Archives and may be confidential
> or privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the
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> (501-682-6900)  immediately.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Peter Kurilecz
> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 7:39 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Disaster preparedness in public libraries
>
> On 7/11/06, Scott, Paul (FPM) <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Patrick Ngulube asked about the views of this Listserv as to whether
> > disaster preparedness should be a major concern for public librarians.
> >
> > In my professional opinion, it is a "major concern" only if you want
> > your institution to survive.
> >
>
> here are links to various disasters involving libraries
>
> Tropical Storm Alison 2001
> http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/01/flood/index.html
>
> University of Hawaii Library Flood 2004
> http://www.hawaii.edu/ala/flood.php
>
> Heritage Preservation
> http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PROGRAMS/taskfer.htm
>
> State Library and Archives of Florida
> http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/disasterrecovery/
>
> --
> Peter Kurilecz CRM CA
> Richmond, Va
>
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> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
> For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>