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In this article, I do two things. First, I describe and evaluate progress that has been made to date on implementing five recommendations made by the author to the leadership of Elliot Lake Public Library in 2014, intended to assist in disaster recovery efforts following the destruction of the library in an anthropogenic disaster in 2012. Second, I provide three revised recommendations, this time intended to assist library leadership address some continuing challenges that are preventing the complete recovery of the library, and ultimately, negatively impacting the effectiveness of the library within the community. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Disaster response is largely about managing people. Human failings and vice can delay or derail library and archives recovery activities, causing irreparable damage to irreplaceable cultural property. Peter Waters' seven requirements for conducting successful disaster recoveries are contrasted with the Seven Deadly Sins to demonstrate the timeless nature of subversive factors at work in the disaster domain. Disaster planning is recommended as an indispensable alternative to running in circles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the 2004 and 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, public libraries played many important roles in their communities, though ensuring access to vital information may have been the most critical service. This article explores the participation of public libraries in the recovery of their communities, the implications of this involvement for the place of public libraries in society, and lessons learned and recommendations for public library disaster planning. As this article demonstrates, public libraries successfully provided a range of disaster preparedness and recovery services that were not provided and could not have been provided by other government agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While life's everyday occurrences in libraries leave us with a disaster situation, nothing could have prepared libraries for the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina. Devastating winds, flooding, and destruction to the area infrastructure required a type of response seldom experienced. By revisiting the responses in minor to catastrophic disasters, there are lessons to be learned. Some lessons serve as a source for prevention for potential disaster situations, rehabilitation in localized disasters, and reinvention when libraries are reduced to rubble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricane Katrina's winds and flood waters impacted nearly every library in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The author provides a brief commentary on the extent of damage at the academic libraries before describing in detail the destruction and recovery of the library at Xavier University. The article offers a series of questions that librarians in flood-prone areas might ask in order to prepare themselves and their staffs for the possibility of a major flood and its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To respond effectively to a disaster requires knowledge, flexibility, planning and practice. Developing a sustainable model in Hawaii and the Pacific region for disaster planning and preservation is the logical extension of the lessons learned from the flash flood in October 2006 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) Library. Surfing is a useful metaphor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During construction in an adjacent building, a steam pipe burst in Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University, causing the fire sprinklers to discharge in the basement of the library, affecting a backlog of collections, including important newspapers from Cambodia. Twenty-three library personnel, along with an outside firm, Munters Moisture Control, were able to recover the majority of the library materials with minimal loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay describes a fire at a major state institution that caused primarily fire-related damage, with very little attendant water damage. The essay covers treatment of materials damaged and disaster plans as they relate to an incident of this magnitude, and suggests ways to assist other institutions in dealing with major disasters requiring contracted assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fire in the basement of the University of New Mexico's Zimmerman Library destroyed 30,000 volumes of periodicals as well as furnishings, shelving, and fixtures in the path of the flames. An earlier flood in the underground science and engineering library had prompted the creation of a disaster plan and the formation of a recovery team. As a result, the library was prepared to handle a disaster of the magnitude of the fire. Damage estimates are put at $10–15 million not including the cost of staff time lost. Although the state fire marshal has acknowledged that the fire was deliberately started with an accelerant, he has not yet officially ruled the fire as arson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most articles about disaster planning in libraries focus on large institutions such as major academic, national, and public libraries. There has not been much focus on the importance of disaster planning for smaller public libraries. This article aims to help fill in the gap using a combination of case studies, data from the 2005 Illinois Statewide Preservation Needs Assessment, and existing disaster planning documentation. Education and training, awareness of resources, and creating a disaster plan are the points stressed as the most important factors a small library can change to affect the safety of its staff, building, and collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]