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Are we Ready to Face the Disasters at Libraries in India?

The library and information centres world over have experienced a sea change in the methods of acquiring, processing, storing and making that information available to the end users especially after a revolution in the information and communication technologies. Libraries have very successfully geared themselves to adopt any new technology that is emerging with new innovations every day. Every country faces natural calamities in one form or the other. The US frequently faces tornadoes; Japan is by nature earthquake prone, Indonesia and Malaysia being coastal regions, face threats from the sea, etc. India has had her share of natural disasters in the past. Disasters in India are so frequent and it’s really unfortunate that our country incurs heavy losses in all aspects and libraries also are not an exception to it. Though, we take many precautions but it is unpredictable in nature. Libraries in India have less awareness about handling and sustaining disasters when compared to American and European libraries.
Recently, India saw severe flash floods in Uttarkhand (June 2013), Jammu and Kashmir (September 2014) and now flood at Chennai (Nov-Dec 2015). The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has admitted that our country is not equipped to deal with natural calamities.
Why can’t we insure our Libraries?
In India, we give least importance in insuring our libraries and more over, major librarians had never even had a thought of it. Insurance companies in India too have no idea about it. It’s really a pathetic situation that saloons and spa's are insured in our country but not libraries. European and American libraries are showing much interest in getting insured and protecting their libraries from unexpected disasters.
Few Tips to Handle Disasters
1. Proper Maintenance of the building is required especially electrical wires and water leakage, lift and escalators. Install automatic fire sprinklers.
2. Maintain your collections out of reach of Water at maximum extent. It's better to avoid libraries at ground floor especially at institutes situated close to coastal areas.
3. Always keep your fire extinguishers ready to handle fire and also wrapping plastic sheets in case of flood.
4. Inform the local disaster officials immediately and be cautious about fallen electric wires and gas leaks. Have a list of local contact numbers to recover the documents damaged.
5. Do have a emergency escape route and make it aware to all the library staff. If possible, a mock disaster handling workshop can also be executed.
6. In case of fire, instruct users and staff to get down at staircases and strictly "don't use lifts".
7. Record the damages in photos, videos and as well in writing as report to submit for future references. 8. Try to recover the documents which are salvageable and maintain a list of local conservators to contact immediately.
9. Make an assessment of the loss due to disasters.

Is India more prepared to face natural calamities now?
As we all are aware natural disasters occur without any prior notice and hence each and every country needs to keep them prepared for any natural calamity that may strike. It has been observed that in foreign countries not only children but even adults are being trained to handle natural calamities; whereas in India neither the children nor the adults are being trained to handle a calamity. It is always said that Prevention is better that cure, and so the government should take the necessary action to train the country on how to handle and save them from natural calamities. Although it is true that since any natural disaster is unforeseen and nobody can predict it, so you cannot be completely ready for it all the time, but you should know the ways to handle it. India should form a Special Disaster Management Committee for Libraries, Information Services, and Archives. It should also focus on training special team of conservators who can act at times of emergency disasters to restore libraries. Moreover, disaster can happen if computers were crashed and the challenge is to recover data. So frequent back up of datas and important files is definitely required to escape computer risks.
Its time to think…..!!!!!


Regards,

Ajit P.

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Ajit Ji,

Thanking you for sharing valuable opinion regarding Disaster at Libraries in our country. We must think about to solve this kind of situation. Government of India and we do the needful. 

It is very good sir but insurance companies are not able to given the insurance to our libraries. I have no idea sir .we want need to insurance to our libraries. you are give the good information to our professionals. In our country  any  institute will give training  to our professionals.please give  that type of institutes information to

our professionals.thank you sir

A Big Thanks to you Sri Ajit P.

Generally it is advised to set up libraries in the Ground Floors as Library materials (books/Bound Volumes of Journals and Racks etc. altogether have more Static Load.

In my immediate past office, in the former location, earlier the Library was in the Ground floor and often used to be affected by the infamous water logging in that area. At the new premise, where the Library is spread along three floors, books bearing Call No. 000 to 390 are still on the Ground Floor though the floor level is more than Four feet High from the Ground level and without any FLOOD situation they are rather safe. But still, admittedly, with the latest Chennai episode, I feel that the collection is not so safe as we believed.

Though I left the organization only a few months ago because of superannuation, I have my sentiment for that Library as I too have some contribution for its development to its present form. Fortunately, I have left behind a group of very competent professionals and I am passing this concern to them and the authority as I have gone through your post.

My present library (located in a coastal area) is safe though; as I have to scale nearly 50 steps everyday to enter into the Library at the second floor which is more than 40 feet above the ground level.

I personally feel that since the Library resources are changing from print to electronic materials, the concept of STATIC LOAD does not hold good any longer. As such, we should seriously think about setting up of Libraries from the disaster management points.

Sincerely,

Siddhartha S. Ray   

Dear Sir,

Thank you for a very informative and precautionary note on saving libraries from disasters.

Sir, actually in libraries there are three major components, Library Collection (here physical collections including computers are applicable), Users and Buildings are to be taken care. If talk about the each of them separably separately in view point of disaster management then we need to separate each of them and also need to distribute their components while at disaster.

If we do so we can easily control the situation. 

Let we talk about rescues and management during disasters in terms of physical collections; first we need to distribute the burden of collections, means we should make stack room separately and keep the books separately not at a place. Distribution may be done subject or branch wise. We can distribute the collection in each floor so that user mobilization will be optimum and distributed in each floors. 

Generally in our libraries, we make some common reading rooms and a unique place for keeping / arranging the books. It has been a right practice but it is not much secure and safe. If something goes wrong user will start running for safety, obviously there will a gate for entry and exit. We need to make emergency gates at each floors which should be directly taking crowd outside of the building without connecting the crowd of other blocks. If we store the documents separately then it will be easier job to protect them.

Use the fire and water proof selves to store the files and other official required documents.

Trained your staff to save themselves and also save some other entities if they could do while at disaster.

Obviously do not make ground floor for keeping the books, share the books in each floors so that weight of the books can be shared. By this way books and users both can be distributed and re-directed easily.

Take the backups of computer files and other data whenever you do any new work or addition in to computer files.

Periodically go for mock test/drill for electric wire and loose connections testing of electronic devices, ensure that they are working fine and submit report.

Add the disaster management points in your library orientation programme with all the exit and entry points so that the user could get some idea what to do if something goes wrong.

Make your library building fireproof  and waterproof. 

Thank you.

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