Do you have a plan for how to handle the damage created by a broken pipe and the ensuing flood in your library? Who will you call for help? How will you save your materials and what takes priority? These are just a few of the questions you can have answers on hand for by creating a disaster preparedness plan for your library. We all like to think that it will never happen, but it doesn’t hurt to be ready just in case.
To get started with your plan, the California Preservation Program created a template that can be modified to suit any library. The template is quite in depth, but filling in just the first few pages with information on who to call and when is a good place to begin.
The Baltimore Academic Libraries Consortium also has a wonderfully comprehensive disaster preparedness plan that outlines how to salvage all types of items, including books; discs; electronic files; photos; art works, and what materials are needed to do so.
Don’t wait, create a plan for your library today and make sure that all library staff know where to find it in case of emergency.