DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES AFTER HURRICANE KATRINARebekah Cousins, Jen Scott, Katie Stevens and Anna Weinberger

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HURRICANE KATRINA

Occurred during the Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2005

Hit the Gulf Coast, including Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas

Over 1,800 confirmed casualties

Cost over $125 billion dollars in damages Considered the costliest hurricane in the United

States to date

DAMAGE TO LIBRARIES AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

LIBRARIES WITH MINIMAL DAMAGE

Set up shelter libraries, including access to computers and internet

Hosted community programs on how to handle debris and mold

Temporarily house other collections until their home libraries were considered safe

TEMPORARY SHELTER LIBRARY AT THE BATON ROUGE SHELTER

DAMAGE TO LIBRARIES AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

MARTIN LUTHER KING LIBRARY, LOWER 9TH WARD, NEW ORLEANS

LIBRARIES WITH HEAVY DAMAGE

In New Orleans, of the thirteen branch libraries, five were completely submerged

NOPL system shut down and fired 90% of their employees

Those that did open did so temporarily

Every library in New Orleans required some repair by 2012

DAMAGE TO LIBRARIES AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

Libraries in Mobile, Alabama fared a little better than those in New Orleans

Librarians reported to work just days after the hurricane, despite subpar conditions at home

With the help of relief workers, librarians were able to transport untouched books from the ruined buildings to a safer location

Mobile Public Library had a hurricane preparation program All of the stacks were wrapped in plastic

Only a few hundred books were lost

This kind of plan is rare in public library systems

DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES: TULANE UNIVERSITY

Libraries have taken an enormous hit from

Hurricane Katrina.

One of them being the

Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. There are 2 buildings: The Howard-

Tilton building (the main library) and Jones

Hall (Special Collections).Between the 2

buildings, over 2 million pieces of printed

material, media and electronic archives were salvaged,

but damaged by the storm. However, almost half of those items have been restored.

All of the restored collections are located in the Tulane Libraries Recovery Center.

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DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES: TULANE UNIVERSITY

Not only were collections a concern but the interior structures of the buildings proved tasking, as well.

Walls, floors, and wooden artifacts, furniture, and shelving take a demanding amount of time to clean and restore.

The company BELFOR helped make this happen.

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DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES: TULANE UNIVERSITY

In order for BELFOR to salvage the materials, they had to follow 5 steps created by FEMA

1) AIR OUT the entire building. This helps prevent bacteria from growing inside.

2) REMOVE materials not affected by the flood. Any other item that has been soaked should be covered with plastic before removal. Protective gear should be worn to prevent the contraction of bacteria. Protective coverings on floors should be used for the same reasons, as well.

DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES: TULANE UNIVERSITY

3) TEAR UP floors, walls, and carpets that were affected by the storm. Always be aware of the nails or tacks that are beneath carpets.

4) CLEAN UP the building once tearing up is complete. Brooms, shovels, shop vacuum cleaners and pressure-washers are excellent cleaning tools. Once everything has been clean, it is time to disinfect with bleach. Make sure to not use bleach where there is dirt, otherwise, it will not be effective.

DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES: TULANE UNIVERSITY

5) DRY OUT the building and various objects from the building. The time it takes to dry varies, depending on the outside temperature. Air conditioners, heaters, and fans are the best tools to speed up the process. Once everything appears dry, it is time to use a wood framing instrument to test the moisture content of the walls, floors, and objects, and then decide whether it is time to open up the building to the public or not.

DISASTER RECOVERIES IN LIBRARIES: TULANE UNIVERSITY

To this day, the 2 buildings of the library have air conditioning units with inflated tubes connected to the ceilings and windows on each floor to prevent bacterial growth.

Although the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library is not the same since pre-Katrina, Tulane University gives much of their gratitude to BELFOR and archivists for their tremendous work and dedication to salvation and restoration.

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COLLECTION RECOVERY

Moving the Collection

• Frazar Memorial Library moved their collection to the 2nd floor of the library

• Howard-Tilton Memorial Library has an off-site storage facility to store their collection

• Dillard University transferred their collection to a storage facility.

Howard-Tilton off-site storage facility

COLLECTION RECOVERY

Mold Infestation

• Mold begins to grow within 24-48 hours

• Southern University at New Orleans’ collections was completely destroyed by mold

• BMS Catastrophe worked quickly to prevent mold infestation.o Gutted first flooro Piped filtered air through libraryo Used multiple dry wipes to stop mold spores from

growing

COLLECTION RECOVERY

Steps Libraries Took to Recover Their Collections:• Prioritization: Restore

only items that cannot be replaced

• Sort Materials: Based on what treatment they need

• Freeze-Drying: Prevents mold, minimizes damage

• Rebinding: Books were sent to bindery companies for rebinding

EMERGENCY PLANNING

80% of cultural heritage institutions and 78% of libraries do not have a written disaster plan

Threat response vs. Management response plans

Importance of training staff

Inventory list, ability to prioritize certain items in the collection

RESPONSE

No infrastructure in place to provide assistance to cultural institutions after disasters.

First volunteer team did not arrive at the scene until four weeks after Katrina.

Mold growth

Restricted access to the city

RESOURCES AND COMMUNICATION

Delay in reinstatement of electricity – inability to dry/stabilize climate

Majority of aid came from volunteers

Smaller institutions may not have resources/experience to respond appropriately

Rest of community recovering as well

Difficulty of communication – scattered, separated

THE IMPORTANCE OF LIBRARIES AFTER DISASTERS

After Katrina, libraries were people’s main resource for information services

People used libraries to fill out FEMA disaster-assistance forms, look for missing loved ones, send emails to reassure loved ones, look at aerial photos, and make use of the telephone and fax machine.

Needed to be able to handle hundreds of patrons