Education: Library Disaster Plans

Although a wealth of information on the construction of disaster plans tailored to various library types is readily available on the Internet and is even somewhat commonplace, locating information on when and on how to construct such documents in the face of larger, overarching organizational plans is, well, not as easy to uncover. Take an academic health sciences library, for instance. Oftentimes, an academic library falls under the auspices of an institution-wide disaster plan in which all parts of a school or a university must participate. So, how does a library director or a library administrator go about drafting a useful plan when their library falls under a broader arrangement that may be less than thorough and/or far from ideal?

Perhaps the questions in this article can help guide decisions-makers faced with the dilemma of a preformed overarching disaster plan:

First of all, what are the eventualities covered by the institutional plan: fire, flood, tornado, hurricane…pandemic? And, upon closer examination, how well does the institutional plan suit library planning necessities in the key disaster areas? Some libraries not only house vast collections of print materials and various electronic resources, but also contain sensitive historical or archival materials. Are there aspects of the larger disaster planning arrangement that fall short of the mark?

Second of all—if the answer to that last question is a resounding “yes”—are library managers permitted to construct a stand-alone disaster plan for inclusion in the institutional disaster plan? Perhaps the library might be permitted to augment the overarching plan where the institutional plan is weakest? It could be that the organizational hierarchy will listen if a case can be made that the institutional plan is insufficient to cover the sometimes unique disaster planning needs of a library—any library!

One potential problem, of course, when augmenting holes or weaknesses in an overarching plan is the potential for confusion between two alternate planning documents. Ideally, the institutional plan would and should allow additions by specific departments, agencies, or schools within the wider organization. However, some institutional plans might not build in this type of flexibility.

Another area for consideration to which library disaster planners might give some attention is the creation of contingency funds. Planners exploring this idea would then need to decide what contingency funds are necessary and exactly what funds will and will not cover as well as time allotments attached to fund amounts. Some funds, for example, might be created for the sole purpose of covering operating expenses for a set period of time and might cover a single library or, conversely, an entire library system.

Foundational, of course, to evaluating the merit of a plan is both experience and foreknowledge of disaster planning documents and processes. As stated before, a host of disaster planning resources and guides can be found on the web. Some sites or resources more specific to disaster planning for libraries can be located at the following websites:

• American Library Association
• Public Library Association
• South Central Regional Library Council
• Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN)
• State Library of Ohio planning resource document
• Web Junction resources

Remember: Even if your library has a disaster plan currently in place, it never hurts to do a quick annual review to verify that the plan does indeed cover everything, and that nothing has changed that would adversely impact strategic areas of the current document.