Introduction
The purpose of this plan is to provide library staff with a basic guide for response to and recovery from disasters affecting library holdings, Special Collections, and Manuscripts. This plan is in fulfillment of the Georgia Historical Repositories Advisory grant that mandated that each agency receiving a grant shall maintain a disaster preparedness plan for the protection and recovery of archival records.
New library personnel will be required to review the Augusta State University Emergency Plan (See Appendix A in print edition) and the Reese Library Disaster Preparedness Plan as a part of orientation. Printed copies of the plan are located at the Circulation Desk; in the Augusta State University Archives; and in the offices of the Head of Reference Services, Special Collections Librarian, and Office Administrator.
This disaster plan will be reviewed quarterly by the Coordinator of Reference Services (currently Fay Verburg), Coordinator of Technical Services (currently Diane Black), and the Business Manager (currently Michelle DeLoach). Revisions and updates will be made as needed.
Response to Emergencies
Response to emergencies is based upon the following priorities: 1. Most importantly, safeguard human life. Evacuate the building promptly, and call for help.
2. Assess and contain the damage to collections if it is possible to do so safely.
3. Salvage as many library materials as possible. See the Collection Priorities List when more than one area is affected.
Emergency Telephone Numbers
| Fire-Ambulance-Police | 911 |
| ASU Public Safety | 737-1401 |
| Jasper Cooke | 723-6859 (p) |
| ASU Physical Plant | 737-1590 |
| Therese Rosier | 667-4042 |
| ASU Computer Services | 737-1484 |
Reese Library Disaster Management Committee
| Name | Office Phone |
| Black, Diane | 667- 4911 |
| DeLoach, Michelle | 667- 4901 |
| Heck, Jeff | 667- 4905 |
| O'Shea, John | 667- 4904 |
| Verburg, Fay | 667- 4906 |
Reese Library Administration
| Name | Office Phone |
| Nelson, Dr., William | 667- 4903 |
| Reid, Camilla | 667- 4902 |
| DeLoach, Michelle | 667- 4901 |
Fires
Response to Fires Immediately remove all persons in danger and close the door to the area if it is safe to do so.
ALL PERSONS MUST EVACUATE THE BUILDING WHEN THE FIRE ALARM IS ACTIVATED.
Call Public Safety at 737-1401 and report the following information:
1. Location of fire (building and room numbers)
2. What kind of fire (flammable liquid, paper or chemical)
3. Injuries (what kind and how many)
4. Your name
If it is safe to do so, attempt to extinguish the fire with portable fire fighting equipment. See Reese Library Floor Plans, Appendix C for location of fire extinguishers.
Move all personnel to the rally point (See Building Rally Points, Appendix D) located behind the Public Safety Building.
Evacuation Procedures
Evacuation of the building should begin immediately after the fire has been positively identified and cannot be extinguished by a staff member using a fire extinguisher.
DO NOT USE THE ELEVATOR: use stairs only
ASU policy is that, upon request, faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to assist in the evacuation of people with disabilites in the event of an emergency, unless the action places the faculty, staff, or student in personal danger. All library personnel are encouraged to volunteer ahead of time to assist people in an emergency. Volunteers should attend evacuation training for certain types of lifting techniques.
Once outside the building, the faculty, staff, and students are required to notify emergency personnel of any person known to be remaining in the building. See Reese Library Floor Plans in Appendix C.
All personnel are to gather on the grass area located west of the library. (Appendix D)
Water Emergencies
For immediate response, obtain plastic sheeting from Circulation and cover materials in the area of the leak. If there is a serious leak, broken pipe, or a flooded area in building, call Physical Plant at 737-1590 and state that you are reporting an emergency water problem. After hours, notify Public Safety and request that they contact the designated Physical Plant staff.
If there is water on the floor, remove items from lower shelves or file drawers onto higher shelves or tables well away from standing water. Do not place any material on the floor since the leak may spread.
Unplug electrical equipment in the area if you can safely do so.
If electricity in the building needs to be turned off, call Physical Plant.
The building needs to be evacuated only in case of major water damage and when structural damage can be expected. Physical Plant, upon receiving notice of a disaster, will determine structural damage and whether buildings are safe for continual occupancy. If Physical Plant advises that the building be evacuated, the individual in charge [during the day Library Administration 1) Dr. Nelson, 2) Camilla Reid, 3) Michelle DeLoach; during week-end and evening hours the Librarian on Reference duty] of the building will then organize a team to assist in evacuation.
Tornadoes
Georgia is in the tornado belt and the university is prepared to take emergency action when threatened by a tornado; consequently, the library will be notified by Public Safety when a tornado watch or warning is received.
When a tornado occurs, the building should not be evacuated. Stay away from windows, doors, and outside walls; protect your head. In the library, stay away from book stacks, since they may collapse.
If possible, persons in the building should move to the inner hallway behind Circulation. DO NOT USE THE ELEVATORS. In addition to water damage, walls, ceilings, and shelves may collapse. When structural damage occurs, the person in charge of the over-all building maintenance needs to assess the structural damage and determine when it is safe to enter the building. Then, damage to affected materials needs to be assessed.
Bomb Threat
If a bomb threat is received by telephone, follow the Bomb Threat guidelines in the Augusta State University Emergency Plan. (See Appendix A in print version).
If the bomb threat is directed to Reese Library, notify the administrator or librarian in charge of the building and proceed with an orderly evacuation.
Complete the "Bomb Threat Check List" immediately. See Appendix A in print version for form.
If a suspicious object or package is found, notify Public Safety, extension 1401.
Hazardous Material
The person in charge of the building will contact Public Safety at 737-1401 to control or neutralize the hazard and to consider possible evacuation, decontamination, and overall recovery.
Consult the material safety data sheets (MSDS) located in the Library Business Manager's Office and get initial information for your protection and the protection of others.
Recovery and Salvage
For 24 hour emergency consultation, call the Northeast Document Conservation Center (978) 470-1010, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Review Damage & Establish Priorities
Rapid response is essential for an effective recovery effort. Paper-based collections begin to distort physically immediately after becoming wet. Books swell and distort; paper cockles; inks and pigments run; coated papers begin to adhere.
The Library Director, Special Collections Librarian, and appropriate department heads should evaluate damage and establish salvage priorities. Consult Hilary A. Kaplan,Conservator, Georgia Department of Archives and History, who is available as a conservation consultant in the state of Georgia. Visit the GDAH Preservation Services web page for additional information.
Archival records, rare books, records vital to the operation of the library as well as any other irreplaceable items should receive the first attention. See Collection Priorities (Printable PDF).
Determine the kind and degree of damage that materials in each location have sustained. Depending on the extent of the disaster, this may be as broad as a room-by-room designation or as narrow as an item-by-item review.
Determine whether the salvage operation can be handled by staff or whether a disaster recovery specialist is required. Consult experts as needed.
After reviewing the extent of the damage, the Library Administrator should set up a disaster recovery team and assign personnel as needed.
Handling and Removal of Material
The most common emergencies (fire, flood) involve water damage. If possible, loosely sort materials according to degree of wetness (soaked, damp, dry). Pack like materials together, e.g. damp records in one box, soaked in another etc. Guidelines for Packing Wet Library Materials. Materials must be removed from affected areas, either to a salvage/drying area within the building, or to another area on campus. Likely locations are a classroom or Washington Hall.
Files: Place folders in boxes or milk crates. Place the folders vertically in boxes (standing as they would in a file drawer.) Fill boxes only about 75% full to allow for swelling.
Bound Volumes: Load onto metal book trucks, or into boxes or plastic milk crates for transport. Place normal-size volumes in a spine down position. Pack large volumes flat in boxes. If time allows, loosely place sheets of freezer paper or waxed paper around every volume. Boxes should be packed only about 75% full to allow for swelling.
To ensure inventory control and for insurance purposes, it is necessary to know the condition and disposition of materials. As materials are removed, a staff member should be assigned to label each container with a brief designation of its contents (by call number range; cabinet/drawer, record group etc.); damage type (wet, dry, smoke etc), and salvage priority; and destination.
Assign a photographer to document the damage and salvage operations.
Water Damage
Evaluate the situation and decide whether the materials can be air-dried on-site or if they must be removed to a freezer facility. Refer to list of consultants for outside assistance in evaluating the disaster. If the damaged materials are not too numerous or too thoroughly soaked, air-drying will be a viable option and a drying area will be required. For detailed instructions on procedures to follow see the Northeast Document Conservation Center's Technical Leaflet "Emergency Salvage of Wet Books and Records" (Appendix F for a printed copy of this plan). A summary of key steps is listed below. Consult the complete document for details.
Secure a clean, dry environment where the temperature and humidity are as low as possible. The temperature must be below 70 degrees F. and the humidity below 50%, or mold will probably develop and distortion will be extreme. Keep the air moving at all times using fans in the drying area. This will accelerate the drying process and discourage the growth of mold.
Books
Thoroughly soaked books, and books with coated paper should be frozen as soon as possible. Wrap them loosely in freezer paper or wax paper and pack them flat in boxes, preferably plastic mail crates, for transport to a freezing facility. If they cannot be frozen before they dry, interleave the pages with unprinted newsprint or paper towels. Keep an inventory of books packed and removed to freezer facilities.
Wet books with covers intact can be air dried.
Interleave every few pages, starting from the back of the book, turning pages carefully. For interleaving, use paper towels or clean, unprinted newsprint. Be careful to avoid interleaving too much or the spine will become concave and the volume distorted.
When books are dry but still cool to the touch, they should be closed and laid flat on a table or other horizontal surface, gently formed into the normal shape, with convex spine and concave front edge (if that was their original shape) and held in place with a light weight. Do not stack drying books on top of each other. In no case should books be returned to the shelves until thoroughly dry; otherwise mold may develop, particularly along the gutter margin.
Manuscripts
Air drying is most suitable for small numbers of records that are damp or water damaged only around the edges. If there are hundreds of single pages, or if the water damage is severe, other methods of drying will be more satisfactory and cost-effective.
Single leaves can be laid out on tables, floors, and other flat surfaces, protected if necessary by paper towels or clean, unprinted newsprint, or clotheslines may be strung close together and records laid across them for drying.
If records are printed on coated paper, they must be separated from one another to prevent them from sticking. This is a tedious process that requires skill and patience. Place a piece of polyester film on the stack of records. Rub it gently down on the top sheet. Then slowly lift the film while at the same time peeling off the top sheet. Hang the polyester film up to dry on a clothesline using clothespins. As the document dries, it will separate from the surface of the film, so it must be monitored carefully. Before it falls, remove it and allow it to finish drying on a flat surface. Once dry, records may be rehoused in clean folders and boxes, or they may be photocopied or reformatted in other ways. Dried records will always occupy more space than ones that have never been water damaged.
Microforms and Photographs
Microforms subject to water damage should be professionally cleaned and dried within 48-60 hours. It will need to be sent to a processing laboratory. In most cases, the film should not be used again, but a duplicate copy should be made and the damaged one discarded. If the film is dirty/muddy, put in a bucket filled with clean cold water and agitate lightly to removed major dirt deposits. Pack for shipping. If film cannot be salvaged within about 60 hours, it can be frozen.
Photographs
For details, see the NEDCC technical leaflet "Emergency Salvage of Wet Photographs" (See Appendix G for a printed copy of this plan). Photographs in water will quickly deteriorate: images can separate from mounts, emulsions can dissolve or stick together, and staining can occur. Mold can grow within 48 hours at 60% RH and 70°F, and it often causes permanent staining and other damage to photographs. For these reasons photographs need to be dried as quickly as possible. If photographs cannot be dried they should be frozen.
Fire Damage
If there is a fire, materials will suffer fire and smoke damage in addition to water damage. It is necessary to consult conservators and other experts listed in this plan. In the absence of professional help, handling of charred items should be avoided if possible, since handling will result in further damage. Rare, archival, or special collections materials must be evaluated by a conservator. For quick local assistance, contact Hilary Kaplan, Conservator, Georgia Department of Archives and History.
Basic Emergency Supplies
Essential supplies should be maintained in the department. Other emergency supplies are located in the Physical Plant. Obtain additional items as needed. For a more complete list, see Reese Library's In-House Supply Checklist.
Located in Reese Library in Circulation, Technical Services, and/or the lst floor supply closet are:
Book trucks; batteries; plastic clothes pins; flashlights; tape; plastic sheeting; tables (for drying materials); waxed paper. Camera and film (Media Services).
Located at or obtained by Physical Plant:
Extension cords; garbage bags; additional plastic sheeting; cardboard boxes; protective masks/gloves/clothing; fans; paper for interleaving.
Experts/Consultants/Equipment
This is a basic list. A comprehensive list of disaster recovery vendors and consultants is available on SOLINET's Disaster Recovery Services and Supplies web site.
| Hilary A. Kaplan | Conservator, Georgia Department of Archives and History If available, can provide immediate expert assistance. Office: (404) 656-3554 Home: |
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| Northeast Document Conservation Center | Emergency telephone consultation (978) 470-1010, day or night, seven days a week. Fax: (978) 475-6021 |
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| SOLINET Preservation Department | 1-800-999-8558 404-892-7879 fax 1438 West Peachtree Street N.W. Suite 200 Atlanta, Georgia 30309-2955 |
In-House Supply Checklist
| Responsible Department | Item | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reese Library | Batteries |
1st floor Supply Closet | |
Book Trucks |
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Camera |
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First Aid Kits |
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Flashlights |
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Scissors |
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Magic Markers |
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Notepads |
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Pens/Pencils |
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Tape |
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Drying Supplies, Clothes pins and plastic |
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Freezer or waxed paper |
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| Physical Plant | |||
Brooms, regular |
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Cleaning Compounds |
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Extension Cords (3-wire, grounded, 50 ft). |
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Garbage Bags |
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Mop Buckets |
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Plastic Sheeting |
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Protective Masks/ Gloves/Clothing |
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Packing Supplies Boxes, cardboard |
Central Office Supply | ||
Hoses, water |
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Fans |
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Paper for interleaving Physical Plant
(paper towels or unprinted newspaper) |
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| Construction Materials : | |||
Crowbar Duct tape Hammers Handsaw Ladders Nails, miscellaneous sizes Pliers Plywood, assorted sizes Rope Srewdrivers/standard and Phillips Shovel |