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Syracuse University Libraries

Preservation: Disaster Management

Preservation information from the Syracuse University Libraries' Preservation Department. Book repair techniques, general information on preservation practices, and other resources.

Disaster Recovery Manual (2020)

The Syracuse University Libraries’ Disaster Recovery Plan for library materials outlines procedures for salvaging a wide variety of library materials in the event of a disaster or minor emergency. We have designed this plan to help library staff cope with and recover materials from minor emergencies that typically involve 500 or less items. This resource can be downloaded in sections or as a complete manual.

Emergency Resources

Additional Selected Resources

The Northeast Document Conservation Center has extensive resources about proper procedures during a disaster and how to respond to situations including the following:

Library Resources

Disaster Planning for Libraries

Libraries are constantly at risk. Every day, many libraries and their collections are damaged by fire, flooding, high winds, power outages, and criminal behaviour. Every library needs a plan to protect its staff, sites and collections, including yours. Disaster Planning for Libraries provides a practical guide to developing a comprehensive plan for any library. 

Warehouse Wet Books

On March 21, 2024, Syracuse University's storage facility on south campus experienced a leak within the storage stacks. The preservation library and the conservation librarian responded to most of the damages at the warehouse; however, there were some books that needed to be brought to the preservation lab. At the lab, wet books were able to be dried following the process for rescuing wet books. Books are first dried with paper towels and pressed to remove excess water. Books are then placed open in front of fans to fully dry pages. Below are pictures of books rescued after the leak:  

          

Planning

This presentation David Stokoe, Conservation Librarian at Syracuse University Library, is aimed primarily at libraries & archives and will emphasize the importance of disaster preparedness. It will familiarize & give an overview of the different aspects of planning and reaction. It will also demonstrate & discuss how to dry water damaged books. Web resources are included at end of the presentation. This webinar was initially presented for Gaylord Bros on 11/8/2012.

Preparedness

 

There are three phases of disaster and emergency management:  Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.  At Syracuse University Libraries, we are planning for all three phases. 

For example, as part of our preparedness, posters like the one below are posted at every staff elevator entrance.  They can't be missed!   The poster indicates exactly where disaster recovery kits are located on the specific floor.  In an water emergency, these posters serve as easy-to-find reminders of where important supplies are located.

Library staff receive training in disaster response when initially hired and at periodic intervals afterwards. 

 

Response

If an emergency occurs, the Disaster Response Team is called into action. The Disaster Response Team consists of staff from all different library departments that are trained to help in case of an emergency. 

Below, plastic sheeting and absorbent booms (on floor) were used to protect stacks during a small water leak in Special Collections.

The Disaster Kits Contain:

Disaster Manual on waterproof paper Plastic rolled sheeting (10 x 25 ft.)
Form for reporting a disaster  Plastic roll (12 x 100ft., stored on bin)
Quick instructions with “what to say” when calling to report a disaster Permanent markers (red and  black)
Aprons Scissors
Cordon yellow police line tape String
Clothes pins Surge protector strip
Duct tape Tape dispenser (for boxes) and tape refills
Exacto knife & refills Towels
Extension cord (100 ft.) Trash bags (33 gallon)
Flashlight & batteries Wax paper (9 x 12”)
Protective Gear (goggles, hard hats, and latex gloves) Whistle
Paper towels Zip lock bags

To save water damaged books, paper towels are placed in between pages and press to remove as much water as possible before they are dried with fans. Below, students can be seen interleaving paper towels and pressing books. 

Recovery

During the recovery period, adjustments may be made to continue services at another location or online, staff may be temporarily assigned to recovery tasks, and so on. Assessing the collection to locate priority material can help to ease the stress of the recovery period by ensuring at risk material is addressed first. Some factors can help libraries determine priority material based on monetary value, replaceability, and ability to replace in some format. While the initial recovery period is key to determine the longevity of material post disaster, it is important to monitor collection items to prevent any future problems from happening, such as mold. 

Also, the disaster response is assessed to allow for continual improvement. After the recovery period, it is important to assess the success of the response to ensure policies are the still applicable. Staff should look at the response of the organizations to determine components that should be continued for future disasters and change parts of the plan that did not go smoothly. Ensuring all staff are on the same page for their plan means the organization will successfully respond to disasters.