Describe the disaster preventive measures to be kept in mind while designing a library building.

 Disasters occur in any part of the world at any time. The type of disaster that is likely to occur largely depends on the prevailing environmental, political, economic or social conditions in an area or country. Library disasters may be triggered from within or may be the result of the external environment. Some of these occurrences can be brought to a minimum by the libraries concerned while others are beyond human intervention. As Khalid & Dol  put it, disaster cannot be prevented especially natural disaster but measures to reduce the impact can be taken to reduce or avoid the possible effects.

Libraries are custodians of information resources. These resources are highly valuable bearing in mind that the collections are usually built over a period of time. By extension, they represent the values and efforts of the library staff, parent institutions and users. Many people depend on libraries for information services since they can hardly afford to purchase the required resources on their own. However, the occurrence of a disaster can easily lead to the loss of the entire investment. In this regard, disaster management aims at bringing the magnitude of damage and loss to a possible minimum. Disaster management has been given attention in many are as besides the library, such as business, government, health and education.

A process or strategy put in place to manage any type of catastrophic event that may take place. Generally, it deals with strategy, organization and management process used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazards and risks that can cause disaster and to ensure continuity within the planned lifetime. It encompasses broader management issues such as finance, risk assessment and training.

A set of written procedures prepared in advance by the staff of a library to deal with an unexpected occurrence that has the potential to cause injury to personnel or damage to equipment, collections and/or facilities sufficient to warrant temporary suspension of services.

Disaster management in libraries in Africa is faced with several challenges. The following is a discussion of some of the main challenges faced across all types of libraries:

Many libraries do not have disaster management policies. The absence of a policy implies that there are no clear guidelines to be followed when disaster occurs. The action plan remains subjective while library staff remain inadequately trained and do not remain in a state of alertness. Even where a policy exists, the staff do not take the best course of action when disaster strikes since they base it on the theoretical knowledge as opposed to real life experience. Quoting a “Heritage Health Index” survey of preservation practices, Page, Clareson & Teper point out that many institutions may have a disaster plan, but do not have personnel trained to carry out the plan. Regular practice of the plan, continuing training to keep up with the latest advances in disaster mitigation, and updating of the plan at least once a year will improve the chances of a successful response to both the smaller-scale emergencies often typified by leaks, pest infestations, and minor mold outbreaks and the larger community or regional disasters that may be sudden or accompany severe we at here vents. Library staff must own the plan. Familiarity with its contents determines the extent of success in its implementation.

Not all libraries conduct regular drills. In some instances, drills pose a challenge to institutions in that they require careful planning and implementation. A case at hand is a botched general drill conducted by Strathmore University in Kenya in 2015 that led to the death of a member of staff and about 20 students sustaining injuries. The drill had been organized by the university and security agencies to test the students’ alertness and response in case of a terror attack.

Libraries in developing countries have been facing budgetary constraints. Many institutions deliberately exclude disaster management in their annual budgets. Disaster management is left out in order to accommodate other competing needs. In some cases, it is not remembered at all. The unknown or unpredictable events (disasters) are not considered to be part of the critical items in the must-do list when budgeting. It is however worth noting that technological advancement has reduced the chances of a collection being destroyed by fire. These include water sprinklers, fire doors, freezers, alarms, smoke detectors, suppression systems, and emergency generators.  Regulatory bodies have in many cases come to the aid of these libraries by developing minimum standards.  These bodies will continue making a positive contribution in the improvement and the setting of minimum standards for disaster management in libraries. Libraries in turn should strive to exceed the minimum standards.

None of the libraries has disaster plans or risk management plans. Most interviewees indicated that risk is managed as a security or a work health and safety issue. Every library has a copy of the work health and safety plan and the activities are regularly mentioned in management meetings and safety meetings. The work health and safety plans do not convey anything about collection management.

All libraries should be covered by insurance. If the council is self-insured the library should still investigate whether the insurance covers the collection as well as the buildings and their contents. Libraries need to be aware that building insurance does not necessarily cover collections. Many libraries have security equipment installed as part of their work health and safety requirements (e.g. mobile alarms), yet the participants interviewed indicated that not all staff were trained in the proper use of this equipment. 

Subcribe on Youtube - IGNOU SERVICE

For PDF copy of Solved Assignment

WhatsApp Us - 9113311883(Paid)