Susan’s Suggestions for Pain-Free Disaster Planning

Suggestion #4: Make a table or list of who’s in charge for the various aspects of disaster response and recovery at your library. Ours is called “Leadership Roles for Disaster Response,” and includes columns for the Role, the Position Title, the Name of the person, and the Responsibilities assigned to the role. Examples:

• Director/Library Director/ (name) / Coordinates overall decision-making and efforts; handles liaison with persons outside the library
• Emergency Response/Assistant Director for Collection Management & Access Services/ (name) / Initiates and oversees emergency responses, and coordinates followup and reporting
• Facilities Recovery/Administrative Services Manager/ (name) / Coordinates repair and cleaning of facilities and non-computer equipment, arranges for replacement equipment, handles all insurance, financial and vendor-related issues

Other roles include Collection Recovery, Service Resumption, and Recorder. If these roles are not already established for your organization, the management group should designate who is responsible for the various roles and make sure the information is communicated to all concerned.