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After the Deluge: Long-Term Responses to Library Disasters with Some Lessons for the Future. ACRL Western European Studies Section, Research and Planning Committee ALA Annual Conference, Anaheim 29 June 2008 Mark Peterson.
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After the Deluge: Long-Term Responses to Library Disasters with Some Lessons for the Future ACRL Western European Studies Section, Research and Planning Committee ALA Annual Conference, Anaheim 29 June 2008 Mark Peterson
100+ Libraries Flooded800,000+ Books Damaged in Germany & Czech Republic Prague Municipal Library Technical University Dresden, Computer Science Faculty Library
Institute of Archaelogy in Prague August 14, 2002 http://www.arup.cas.cz/povoden/en/index.htm
Repairing the Damage “Jiří Polišenský closes the vacuum chamber used to restore valuable books damaged in the 2002 floods.” Prague Post 8/10/2005 http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2005/Art/0811/news2.php “SOGGY: At Prague's City Library, workers gather some of the 20,000 books to be frozen pending restoration.” CSM 8/30/2002 www.csmonitor.com/2002/0830/p06s01-woeu.html.
Lessons Described by the Librarians • Organized communication is essential • Disaster plan needs to include contracts, risk assessments, staff responsibilities, collection priority lists & adequate supplies • Decisions on what books to save should be made on site • Fast transport to freezers more important than amount of time in the water • Books should be cleaned and formed before they are frozen • Unexpected costs of freezing & storage threatened collections • Mold spores can survive freezing and can remain in library space • Vacuum packing with blotting paper and multiple cycles was the best method for drying frozen books • Slow drying often warped bound materials significantly but had to be done because of the cost of other methods • Volunteers often make costly mistakes • Do not store valuable items in the basement!
General Lessons • Disaster planning saves libraries • Goodwill is useless if you do not direct it • True friends provide real help • It is more than just the books • Nothing will happen without money • Full recovery takes a long time