MAY DAY! Protecting Collections From Disaster
It is finally spring! While many are delighted to see winter come to an end, some parts of the U.S. have been experiencing terrible flooding from torrential rainfall and large quantities of rapidly melting snow. These recent events bring to mind other devastating natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and earthquakes in Haiti and along the coast of Chile. In large-scale disasters like these, local, state, national and international emergency management authorities usually take over. But what happens in “smaller disasters,” emergency situations or water incidents? What if something happened in the building that housed your historical collections? Who would you call? How quickly could you find the phone number? What is your plan? May is the designated month where conservators, archivists, preservation specialists and curators come together and recognize the importance of planning for the unexpected. “MAY DAY,” historically May 1, has become a day of action for museum and archival professionals to check their response capabilities to a disaster that could potentially damage their collections. May 1 need not be the exact day to gather forces and review plans or practice a recovery exercise, but the month of May provides the opportunity to pause and address where your institution stands in its ability to respond to an emergency situation. Perhaps this will be the May that your institution begins writing its “Collections Disaster Plan.” Preserving research collections, museum collections, family heirlooms and collectibles requires care, knowledge and diligence. In my career as a paper conservator I have seen much damage that could have been avoided if only things were done differently. The missing links are information, education and preparation. For this reason, sharing knowledge about how to better care for, store, transport, exhibit and recover collections is the ultimate goal for extending the useable life of historical materials. For response and recovery to emergencies, part of preparedness is the knowledge that there are safeguards any institution or individual can have in place. The key to successful response and recovery of historical collections is preparedness, including a well-trained team. At the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), our due diligence is expected for the protection of our archival, library and museum holdings. We are able to physically protect our collections with all of the proper housing materials; our storage and shelving units are state-of-the art with motion sensors and fire locks. But for all of the precautions we have taken, all the care we give, and the preservation efforts we promote, our collections are still vulnerable to the unexpected: a leaky roof, a bursting pipe, a devastating natural disaster. A “Collections Disaster Plan” has long been touted as something all historical repositories should have in place. Damage, in even the least severe incident, can be crippling, unless one knows the proper actions to take. Preparation for what your geographic area has in store for you, be it tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions or earthquakes, is critical to your preparedness on a large scale, but what about that leaky pipe? Your preparation to react and respond to the situation and the damaged collections after the critical life-safety steps have been taken, can make the difference between a slightly warped, but still useable item, and complete loss due to fire or flood, or water damage that progressed to all-consuming mold. A customized action plan that will clearly dictate roles and responsibilities during an incident in your collection should nest within your institution’s Emergency Plan. Even if collection recovery cannot begin for weeks after an incident, your initial response, and your preparedness to take action after life-safety authorities permit entry back into the building, are critical to the salvage of the damaged collections. While creating your institution’s plan is time-consuming, there are many tools to assist you in your efforts. There are sample plans and even templates that you can customize for your institution. On a national level, the American Institute for Conservation of Art and Historical Artifacts (AIC) provides support. Additionally, local universities, state museums, archives and libraries often have tools to support their constituents. Many state institutions may even be able to offer assistance to you in the event of an emergency. There are also professional preservation planners and conservators who will write a plan for you, but bear in mind, a team from your institution should be deeply entrenched in the process as it is a plan for your institution. Emergency Response and Recovery has been systematically prescribed within the archival world for more than 25 years. The formula is available for your institution to customize. From experience working with these plans, we know that all comprehensive plans contain a body of the plan describing potential emergency situations, the purpose, functionality and expected results of the document accompanied by a clear, concise table of contents and the easily accessible appendices that will provide specific information about contacts, resources and procedures to follow. First steps may include looking at trusted Web sites to see what other institutions have done and what their Collections Disaster Plan contains. Prepared institutions know that their Collections Disaster Plan is: Readily accessible. Maintain this customized plan electronically to keep the information current, and keep physical paper copies in-house and off-site in multiple locations. Up-to-date. Personnel and phone numbers both within your institution and the community change. Verify that you have the correct phone numbers for the services you need by physically calling those numbers to check their accuracy. Easy-to-use. All critical information should be at your fingertips and clearly laid out. Try using labeled tabs, color coded sections, or whatever makes sense for your institution. Customized for your institution. Internet resources to aid in your further understanding and creation of a plan for your institution abound. The AIC Web site, www.conservation-us.org, provides comprehensive links to a variety of organizations that can assist in writing the plan as well as aiding in response. Also, consult the state archives, state museum, and state library located in your state’s capital, and do not forget to liaise with city and/or county museums, historical societies, libraries, colleges and universities. Your local support network will be among the first to respond when emergencies happen. In conclusion, please note that you are not alone. Perhaps your new (or expanded) awareness of the resources available will empower you to begin your preparation (or further your efforts) to manage response to a potentially dire situation. Call upon your colleagues and form consortiums. Begin slowly, but purposefully, and stay on track. Once your plan is in place, pursue further training for staff and use MAY DAY to practice implementation of the plan. The more familiar you are with your plan, and the more practice exercises you do, the better your chances of reducing damage during an actual emergency. Hopefully next year, when someone mentions May Day, you will think “Collections Disaster Plan” and take steps to refresh your institutions ability to respond to disaster.
Jane Smith Stewart is Paper Conservator, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. Before joining the center in March 2006 she was the Preservation Advisor and Rare Books Room supervisor for the State Library of Pennsylvania and for the Pennsylvania State Archives as Project Conservator. She chaired the Pennsylvania Library Association’s Preservation Working Group, is on the Pennsylvania Preservation Consortium board and the ad hoc task force for Disaster Preparedness for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archivists Conference.
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