Customer Reviews

Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries

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Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries is a practical guide to help library directors plan for, and/or handle library disasters. It is written in straight-forward style, with little narrative or theory to distract from the instructions.

The physical formatting of the text supports this approach. The book is laid out in a double column format with bold faced section headings and bulleted lists. Descriptive case studies from actual libraries are clearly marked and set apart from the main text. The result is a book that is easy to scan quickly to disseminate the informative content

The first half of the book is divided into six sections dealing with disaster management: Response, Recovery, Prevention, Planning, and Procedures. Each section includes subheadings, lists, and questions which walk a manager through each step of a disaster, from the small scale to the large. The emphasis is placed on physical details that should not be overlooked, such as having utilities turned off after a fire, but psychological and and emotional issues are also discussed.

The second half of the book contains a valuable resource for any manager: an appendix of 31 checklist and forms. These pages are formatted to be very functional, with blank lines and check boxes provided. A manager could use these pages as presented, or use them as blueprints in the development of customized procedures. The supporting material also includes a list of contacts for additional assistance and supplies, a bibliography, and an index.

Managers working in an information environment, whether library, historical society, or archive, would find this book helpful not only as they write disaster plans but also as they reevaluate the plans already in place. I highly recommend this book.