Disaster Planning for Libraries

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Guy Robertson is a senior instructor at Langara College, where he teaches library history, reference and readers’ advisory services, and records management. He is also an instructor in information security and risk management at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. He works as a consultant to organizations across North America, and has provided advice and services to libraries, archives, records centers, and museums in Europe and Asia. Mr. Robertson is noted for his research into book and manuscript theft, data loss and protection, and financial fraud and forgery. He has delivered keynote speeches, seminars, and workshops at conferences not only for librarians and archivists, but also for other professional and technical groups.

• Libraries and Risk; Disaster preparedness; Operational resumption, continuity, and recovery; Damage assessment and strategic alliances; Disaster declaration and crisis management; Clean-up, who, when and how; Post-disaster management of patrons; Normalization of operations; Staff orientation and training; Testing, auditing, updating disaster plans; The in-house planning champion; Pandemic management in libraries; Moisture control vendors and their services; Library security and loss control.

"...a practical guide to developing a comprehensive disaster plan for any library...an essential read for the library administrators managing significant library infrastructure." --Annals of Library and Information Studies"Its strength is in risk identification and includes inventories of possible threats including toxic spills, train derailments, and nuclear power plant failures." --The Scholarly Kitchen