This webinar will provide you with guidance on how to prepare your library to respond a disaster, as well as, how to resume providing services to the public as quickly as possible in the aftermath of a local or regional crisis. You will learn how libraries contribute to community resiliency by providing a safe haven and needed services after a disaster that allow people and local businesses to begin to put their shattered lives back together and resume normal activities.
Recent natural and manmade catastrophes have highlighted the important role public libraries play in enhancing their community’s resiliency and post-disaster recovery efforts. Many community leaders and emergency responders now view libraries as disaster recovery and technology communication centers, recognizing the role of librarians as “Information First Responders.” This presentation will help your library embrace this new role as an essential community service that quickly enables people to get back to work, back to their lives, and ensure recovery of the community’s economic life after a disaster. Learn what you need to do to prepare your facility and staff before disaster strikes. You will be introduced to the New Jersey State Library’s Disaster Preparedness & Community Resiliency Toolkit, which is a unique resource created by both librarians and emergency responders.
Your library can be at the forefront in providing a safe haven in times of crisis, and helping your community return to normal life when you prepare in advance, and understand the essential and critical role libraries play in the resiliency of community life.
How Your Library Can Contribute to Community Resiliency After a Disaster
Michele Stricker is the Deputy State Librarian of Lifelong Learning at the New Jersey State Library where she is responsible for library trustee and director education and training, strategic planning, preservation best practices for special collections, disaster preparedness, and community resiliency. In addition to an MLIS from Rutgers University, she has an MFA in Museum Studies from Syracuse University, and an MA in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania. She received her certification in Preservation Management from the Rutgers School of Professional Development, and has taught Preservation of Library & Archival Materials for the Rutgers Graduate School of Communication & Information.
