Library Disaster Recovery Lessons Learned and Opportunities Seized Bruce Neville and Anne Schultz Centennial Science and Engineering Library, University of New Mexico All photographs by Nancy Dennis Copryright 2005, University of New Mexico Libraries, Used with Permission

The Great Flood of ‘04

Although few books were directly damaged by water, as these were, mold was an important consideration.

Everything had to be packed out.

The ceiling tiles came down under their own power The ceiling tiles came down under their own power. Even the walls had to be removed!

After the restoration, shelves had to be set back up on the new water-resistant tile.

Books were returned to the shelves based on a system of zones and shelves.

Lesson 1: Be Prepared

There are things you can do that don’t cost money Lesson 1: Be Prepared There are things you can do that don’t cost money

There are things you can do that don’t cost money Lesson 1: Be Prepared There are things you can do that don’t cost money Identify Priorities In our case, local and historical maps were the highest priority among the endangered materials, and their location was specified in the disaster plan. Choose large “chunks” of items, not a list of individual items. If the water is rising around you, you won’t have the luxury of “cherry-picking.”

High-priority maps could be identified and stabilized quickly, then packed for shipment to a freeze-drying contractor.

Lesson 1: Be Prepared There are things you can do that don’t cost money Identify Priorities Have a recovery contractor on “retainer” During a crisis is not the time to be doing an RFP for a recovery contractor. Like a lifeguard, you hope never to need one, but you should have one ready at a moment’s notice.

Lesson 2: Know what you have

The warehouse at the beginning of the process.

The warehouse after everything had been moved out The warehouse after everything had been moved out. Map cases are visible on the right. How did we *get* all that stuff into the space in the first place?!

Lesson 2: Know what you have What’s hiding in the corners?

Materials in our compact shelving, though not directly affected by the water, had to be packed out because of the danger of mold. Our compact shelving had been used for years to store projects for “tomorrow.” Some materials were stored there by staff who had not been with the library for close to a decade! Because we had to move it out, sort it, and move it back in before it could be de-selected, we had to handle it multiple times, only to have it removed in the end.

Lesson 2: Know what you have What’s hiding in the corners? How good is your catalog or shelf list?

We were able to get a shelf list of the materials in the collection We were able to get a shelf list of the materials in the collection. Unfortunately, we learned later that about a third of the items, especially in series, did not have individual item records and were not represented. In one case, eight shelves of tiny reports had only a single entry in the shelf list.

Lesson 3: Life goes on

You can’t overcommunicate! Lesson 3: Life goes on You can’t overcommunicate! This is one lesson we’re still learning.

Lesson 3: Life goes on You can’t overcommunicate! Maintain essential services

And I do mean *essential*! There were no sanitary facilities at the warehouse, where we worked for long days.

Of the maps that weren’t sent off for freeze-drying, the most heavily used ones were relocated to a reading area on the main floor so that we could provide basic map services during the recovery process.

Lesson 4: Don’t assume

Lesson 4: Don’t assume Outside contractors We used local labor for much of the packing, labeling, and hauling. You can’t assume that they understand “library-speak.”

The first boxes moved to the warehouse were often stacked on the floor The first boxes moved to the warehouse were often stacked on the floor. The warehouse leaked, too. Thus, the boxes had to be palletized, which meant that any arrangements were lost.

There may be other problems with outside assistance.

Lesson 4: Don’t assume Outside contractors Labelling Not everybody knows LC.

In order to “simplify,” packers were told to “just look for a combination of letters and numbers.” *We* knew what we meant, but it resulted in the boxes being labelled with just the cutters! Several different shelving notations were also used during the process, and the shelves were set up in a different arrangement after the restoration, so those notations were also essentially useless.

All 14,000 boxes had to be re-opened, relabelled, and restaged All 14,000 boxes had to be re-opened, relabelled, and restaged. The barcode in one book from the box was scanned and compared to a database prepared from the (incomplete) shelf list to assign a shelf location.

Boxes were then returned according to the new shelf locations on the label and staged near the appropriate shelves.

Each box was eventually matched to a zone, range, section, and shelf Each box was eventually matched to a zone, range, section, and shelf. Sometimes it fit, more often, it didn’t.

Everything takes longer than you think Lesson 4: Don’t assume Outside contractors Labelling Everything takes longer than you think So just plan for it!

Lesson 5: Others need healing, too Shelfreading project

Lesson 5: Others need healing, too Make opportunities to help After the books were returned to the shelves, we had to shelf-read the entire collection.

Employees from all branches turned out over spring break to help in the shelf-reading. 136 employees (and 1 spouse) provided over 1000 person-hours of labor to the project.

It was a looooong task!

Lesson 5: Others need healing, too Make opportunities to help Provide closure Thank-you letters were sent to all employees who participated in the shelf-reading, with copies to their supervisor.

So Where Are We Now?

So Where Are We Now? Everything that wasn’t in boxes before is out of boxes now There’s still stuff in boxes, but it was in boxes before (and it’s up off the floor).

The empties are almost gone!

So Where Are We Now? Everything that wasn’t in boxes before is out of boxes now All shelves are read, but still need a complete shift This has had to be fit into the normal workflow, so is only about 20% complete at this time.

So Where Are We Now? Everything that wasn’t in boxes before is out of boxes now All shelves are read, but still need a complete shift Still have areas walled off and skylights covered in plastic Existing structural problems have still not been resolved.

Our entrance remains unfinished, pending additional building restoration.

Some areas have been walled off permanently, with absorbent “socks” to contain any leaks.

I don’t have a sunset to end with.

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