Flirting with Disaster

Disaster planning has got to be one of the most uninspiring aspects of library and archives work. I suppose its for the same reason many people have trouble making a will: nothing bad will happen and we'll all live forever. And yet, as most recently Hurricane Katrina or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has shown us, disasters come in the form of natural and man-made, and they affect lives and cultural assets. Unfortunately, it often takes an emergency to push organizations toward creating plans that keep those emergencies from turning into a disaster. I was glad to hear about a long-overdue announcement from Boston Public Library regarding the updating of their disaster plan. It is of utmost important for institutions to make this kind of planning a priority and to publicize it when they do, in order to lead other institutions to do the same.

So what does this have to do with pictures of windmills? earlier this summer, I attended a disaster planning workshop on Cape Cod, which I was not looking forward to. But I was so surprised and learned to much that I thought I ought to share it.

The workshop began with a little Fire Extinguisher 101. In spite of numerous Backdraft viewings, I realized quickly I was not qualified to fight a fire. And while every one's first step when a fire breaks out is call 9-1-1, I enjoyed learning about the different types of fire extinguishers, what they are for, and how hard it can be to pull that pin! And yes, I did put out a hay-bale fire with an extinguisher.

Then, we moved into disaster training. We were a group of about twelve individuals: librarians, town records managers, and archivists. The workshop was led by our state preservationist, who walked out of the town hall with a grim face:

"Here's the scenario. It's 5am. You have been called by the fire department that your building has been flooded and there is no electricity. They have made the building safe for entry. The worst part of the damage is in your special collections room. Your job is to assess the situation, make a plan, and carry out that plan. There are some supplies down there, but you must also make do with what you have. Good luck."

It was "survivor" for this group. Walking into a room that had barrels and container of water, books soaking in it, computer equipment, microfilm, photos- you name it; I wasn't even emotionally attached to the items and I still got teary.

Needless to say, there were a number of things we did wrong as a group, and we were semi-trained individuals! There were a number of take-aways from that initial session that I am compelled to share:

• While it is tempting to rush in and remove all of your items, don't. Them staying in water or whatever another hour or so won't make that much of a difference. It is more important to document the disaster (with photos!) and assess what has happened (insurance!). Then you can prioritize the order in which you salvage the collections.
• Security is essential. We love volunteers, but there are unfortunately a few individuals who will take advantage of the situation and walk off with valuable items. Be sure to have a sign in sheet so you know who is there, and when they left. 
• Inventory was has been destroyed and how. You can do this by collection, or call number, or type, but take notes on everything. 

After lunch, we went through a number of available resources, both in our state and around the country. There are a actually a wealth of charts, graphs, and people who are ready to help institutions who find themselves facing tough decisions. 

1. COSTEP MA: Coordinated Statewide Emergency Preparedness in Massachusetts. The mission of   COSTEP MA is to build and foster a statewide disaster preparedness planning process that serves the cultural and emergency management communities and addresses disaster prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.Their resource page is up to date and valuable to bookmark. 
2. Canadian Council of Archives Preservation Committee, especially "Salvage Operations for Water Damaged Collections: A Second Glance (2003)
3. CoOL- an online resources by and for conservators and related fields, operated by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation. 
4. Harvard University Preservation Department: recommended plan and other resources 
5. New York State Library: Disaster Preparedness Planning

It is by no means an exhaustive list, but I found it helpful to see how many organizations there are that have resources available for planning and recovery. 

So, until next time, happy planing!

Also, Eastham has a cool, old fire engine.