ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 928 / C&RL News Coping with a quake By Linda B. Johnson Head, G overnment Publications Dept. San Jose State University and Jeff Paul Head, Media D epartm ent San Jose State University Communication is the key to the first 48 hours after an earthquake. A year ago, O ctober 17,1989, at 5:04 p.m. in Bay Area libraries, we w ere reeling with one of the most forceful and frightening quakes in recent memory. Im m ediately after the 7.1 shaker, we only w anted to shut down our librar­ ies, get home, find our family and friends, and begin to pick up the pieces. It was only days and weeks later that we had the luxury and inclination to stop and reflect on what has affectionately been called “th e pretty big one.” Through this experience we have com e to realize that in any disaster situation, the responses made during the first few hours will have a decisive effect on all subsequent actions and in many cases the ultim ate success o f th e recovery. And w ithout doubt, the keystone in any response strategy is communication— th e very basic ability to be able to provide inform ation to and from individuals, groups, and organizations effectively. As information professionals, we librarians are skilled at communicating; it is our business, one of the things we do best, the cornerstone o f our profession. Nevertheless, in the recent Lom a Pri- eta earthquake, we discovered that in em ergencies our communication skills and level o f th eir p rep a­ ration require, to say the least, refinem ent. O ur communication actions and those o f librari­ ans at other campuses constituted a mix of success­ ful and not so successful responses. This article briefly outlines some of those responses and then builds upon them to offer suggestions for th e re ­ e grettable b u t inevitable next emergency. In California, this em ergency will most likely be aarnth e­ arthquake. T he latest estimates from th e U.S. Geological Survey’s W orking G roup on California E arthquake Predication Evaluation Council p re ­ dict a 67% chance o f a 7 or greater m agnitude earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area within th e next 30 years.1 In o th er localities, different em ergencies loom larger. A startling and sobering statistic is that, according to a Florida study, in the last five years (1982-1987), 68.8% o f academic li­ braries experienced some sort o f damage caused by an em ergency situation.2 Reality of the situation C om m unication is so essential for two reasons— one psychological, the o th er physical. As for the psychological, th e unknown is vastly m ore frighten­ ing and unm anageable. A known calamity at the very least has a beginning with which we can begin to cope mentally; th e n a middle and end that we can anticipate and work towards. ^ e t e Carey, “Odds for Big Quake Rise,” San Jose M ercury News, 20 July 1990, 22A. 2John N. DePew, Statewide Disaster Prepared­ ness and Recovery Program f o r Florida Libraries (U rbana, 111.: U niversity o f Illinois, G rad u ate School of Library and Inform ation Science, Occa­ sional P aper no. 185, F ebruary 1989), 8. November 1990 1 929 As a colleague noted, seeing th e actual damage on th e u p p er floors o f our library was oddly com ­ forting. T he reality, no m atter how bad, was a welcome relief to any num ber o f im agined horrors. “Seeing is believing” also proved tru e for students serving on th e R eference Inform ation D esk who w ere intentionally taken to th e closed floors to view th e dam aged stacks. In this way, many o f th eir fears w ere laid to rest, enabling them to convey a higher level o f assurance to patrons. As for th e physical reality, in a purely logistical sense, it is like tackling a shadow to fix an undefined problem . W here is it? W hat is it? W hat can we do? Knowledge has to be th e first step on th e road to a solution; com m unication provides th e road signs along the way. On th at afternoon the im m ediate pow er and telecom m unication failures cut us off from those staff m em bers who had left the cam pus or had never b een in th at day, as well as the com m unity at large. On-site decisions were effectively handled by rem aining staff and adm inistrators, b u t once they left the campus, com m unication linkages fur­ th e r deteriorated. One picture is worth . . . L et’s begin on a positive note with th e m ore effective com m unication techniques. It is surely no accident that some o f these addressed m ore than one o f the five senses. At San Francisco State University, staff m em bers im m ediately p u t on bright orange vests and used bullhorns to direct people out o f th e building and off th e campus quickly. Photographs w ere used to illustrate th e damage and accom pany verbal or w ritten reports. In our library it was difficult to justify the im m ediate closing o f the dam aged stack areas to public access during one o f th e busiest tim es o f th e academic year. Since patrons did not see any disorder on the accessible floors, they w ere hard to convince that th e action was anything less than capricious. T he colorful and vivid snapshots o f th e twisted shelving and spilled books quickly silenced complaints. In fact, th e photo display at the library entrance was im m ediately m obbed and the picture boards at the reference desk w ere a focus o f attention for stu­ dents and users. W e discovered that relatively few pictures w ere worth m uch m ore than any num ber o f words o f explanation. O th e r successful com m unication techniques w ere an outgrow th o f staff quick-wittedness and com posure u n d er intense pressure. F o r instance, th e staff m em bers in th e building at the tim e o f the quake m ade a speedy and accurate assessm ent of th e severity o f th e situation and th en personally com m unicated th e n eed to vacate th e building to patrons. Even allowing for some glitches to be Damage to up p er floors o f Clark Library, San Jose State University. discussed later, this resulted in a reasonably trouble and injury-free evacuation o f th e main library building. At another campus, an evacuation was handled even m ore smoothly as they followed the procedures laid out in an existing D isaster P rep ar­ edness Plan. T hen, despite interm ittent phone service, ven­ dor telephone num bers buried in office files, and an empty, eerie, potentially dangerous building, adm inistrators im m ediately contacted a shelving vendor. In many libraries, the damage was cen ­ te re d around the book stacks themselves and did not pose serious building structural problem s. T herefore, early consultation with a local library shelving supplier was the m ost crucial step in assur­ ing a speedy recovery and resum ption o f services. Communication networks D uring th e day following the quake, th e key to an effective response at one campus was a very hierarchical com m unication system. T he trickle- down, bubble-up theory o f com m unication worked well as inform ation flowed down and up the organi­ zation’s structure from the administrative staff to the section heads to individual unit managers to staff and back up again. To gather and exchange 930 / C&RL News More damage to u p p er floors o f Clark Library, San Jose State University. information, th e re was a cycle o f selected staff get- togethers augm ented by the issuance o f adm inis­ trative bulletins. Recovery then proceeded based on the most accurate assessment o f the situation. To com m unicate with th e w ider university and surrounding com m unities, cam pus inform ation dissemination groups (information offices, e m er­ gency operations centers) generally h elp ed to spread the word. In many cases they w ere respon­ sible for providing notices to the local newspapers, broadcasts on the local radio stations, and televi­ sion announcem ents. Libraries often furnished recorded announce­ ments on public service telephone lines with the latest information on th eir status. F o r patrons who did make it to campus, signs posted on library doors indicated the situation. Interestingly, in some cases autom ation p ro ­ vided an unexpected com m unication avenue. At the national level RLIN and OCLC, with varying degrees of detail and results, w ere able to indicate w hether interlibrary loan service at a particular institution had been interrupted. If th e library had closed, RLIN indicated this along with the ex­ pected date of reopening. Locally, certain online card catalogs were also helpful. Some libraries, with service desks open while their actual book- stacks were closed, had access to th e MELVYL (University o f California) online catalog and could determ ine for patrons if the material was available at Berkeley. An unnecessary trip for the patron was thus avoided and additional crowding at an already overtaxed library was prevented. A subtle, soon forgotten b u t crucial aspect of personal recovery was th e need for each o f us to tell our story—w here we and our family w ere and what happened to us during those endless 15 seconds and th e subsequent hours. W e now realize th at for library staff as well as returning patrons, this was a truly cathartic and healing process th at allowed us all to com e to term s with th e experience and return to normal. This should not com e as a surprise since it is a commonly recognized fact th at survivors o f tra u ­ matic events find such a retelling, venting, and sharing extremely therapeutic. Most recently this has b een d o cu m en ted by Jam es P en n eb ak er’s study o f survivors o f the Loma P rieta earthquake who, he found, suffer from post-traum atic stress syndrom e. A ccording to P e n n e b a k e r, “Those people who are th e most distraught report thinking about the earthquake a lot, b u t not talking about it.” H e fu rth er noted th at “th e best way to get out o f it is to not try to suppress the thoughts. Confront th em by writing about them and talking about them in a reflective manner: ‘W hy am I having these November 1 9 9 0 1 931 Still more damage to u p p er floors o f Clark Library, San Jose State University. thoughts, w hat does it say about th e event, about my em otions.”’3 Useful lessons In many cases we actually learned m ore from the less successful strategies. Some were closely re ­ lated to the successful strategies b u t ju st did not work; others w ere techniques th at w ere entirely overlooked at particular libraries. D uring the evacuation in some libraries the noise o f the alarms— designed to clear the building quickly— m ade it difficult to hear if any patrons w ere trap p ed inside. A 35-m inute video was shot at San Jose State University to docum ent such internal dam age as swayed bookstacks and tipped p rin t cases; unfortu­ nately it did not help to secure funds from the F e d e r a l E m e r g e n c y M a n a g e m e n t A g en cy (FEM A). Videotape, like photographs, can clearly docum ent the severity o f a situation and be used to fu rth er dissem inate th e news. T he tape was used in a cam pus news broadcast about the earthquake on 3James Pennebaker, Opening Up: The Healing Power o f Confiding in Others (N.Y.: William M or­ row, 1990). th e local PBS television station and shown to visit­ ing engineers studying th e earthquake damage. T elephone trees and lists o f staff to be called w ere also problem atic. Some staff had to retu rn to the cam pus to learn o f recovery plans since hom e telephone num bers, listed and unlisted, w ere only accessible through unavailable office files. C onse­ quently, library staff and the public w ere d ep en d ­ en t on announcem ents in the m edia (radio, televi­ sion, newspapers) for the critical inform ation about w hether or not th e cam pus was open. And th e local m edia paid scant attention to th e university situ­ ation, given th e need to focus on the m ore dram atic and gripping tragedies all around th e Bay Area. To fu rth er com plicate the situation, institutional an­ nouncem ents that did make it into the m edia gen­ erally did not include the status o f the library. Finally, some institutions w ere unable to estab­ lish and maintain systematic and consistent com ­ m unication networks. Often, staff on the frontline public service desks did not receive news o f the latest damage evaluation, expected date o f reo p en ­ ing, or status o f neighboring libraries. Adding to the confusion and consternation o f staff and patrons, unofficial, often distorted, and frequently inaccu­ rate news rushed into the void created by the lack o f official information. 932 / C&RL News Voice o f authority In th e second category o f com pletely over­ looked com m unication tools, one o f th e prim ary ones at San Jose State was an existing university public address system located at th e c e n te r o f cam pus b u t used only as a bell tower. It could have been p u t into service by th e E m ergency Response Team to d irect evacuation o f th e central cam pus area im m ediately following th e quake. It is almost certain th a t such a note o f authority w ould have p rev en ted th e m ajor fiasco o f th e evacuation o f o u r auxiliary library and storage building. A shared tenancy facility w ith non-library functions such as th e C o m p u ter C e n te r and aca­ dem ic d epartm ents seem ed to lead naturally to conflicts about w ho was in charge. U nfortunately, th e senior library staff m em b er responsible for evacuation o f th e entire building was a student employee. Given th e great disparity o f pow er and authority betw een th a t stu d en t and th e faculty m em bers responsible for th e o th e r units in th e building, it was inevitable th at problem s arose. Thus, this building was not secure until an adm inistrator from th e main library arrived at least 40 m inutes after th e quake. U ntil h e r arrival, th e lack o f a recognized figure o f authority fostered garbled and u n h e e d e d com m unication betw een individuals sharing th e building. A final overlooked com m unication link led to m inor evacuation problem s in th e main library. In th e understandable rush to leave th e building, many patrons did not think o r w ere not rem in d ed to take th e ir belongings. T hey th e n found them selves outside w ithout money, keys, or o th e r essentials. Staff m em bers had th e n to re e n te r th e potentially dangerous library to rum m age in th e dark and retrieve th e ir belongings. Better next time Drawing upon these experiences, we have m ade a prelim inary sum m ary o f necessary com m unica­ tion skills for a disaster situation. First, an effective evacuation o f a building requires a n u m b e r o f essential steps. Big B rother fears notwithstanding, a building-wide public address system provides a pervasive “voice o f authority” th a t can m ore clearly direct th e desired group action. This is even m ore critical for those buildings occupied by a n u m b e r o f separate adm inistrative units and all buildings during non-peak hours w hen only a skeleton crew is present. To im prove control over th e evacuation, key staff m em bers can com m unicate with each other by walkie-talkies. Unless th e persons in charge display some obvi­ ous signs o f authority such as a P.A. system, identi­ fication badges, arm bands, colorful clothes, or bullhorns, th e ir leadership role will not necessarily b e recognized. Given th e com bination o f a lack o f clearly responsible people and dam age th a t is not readily apparent, many patrons will refuse to leave o r cooperate in any way. Also, th e re is no guarantee th e disaster will occur w hen key adm inistrators or line staff are present. Thus, all staff right down to th e newly hired student em ployee need to be aware o f procedures to p ro ­ te c t people, collections, and facilities as m uch as possible. F urtherm ore, th e re needs to be agree­ m en t as to who is ultim ately responsible for making th e big decisions depending on who is available at th e tim e. To assure com m unication am ong staff after the im m ediate disaster, all em ployees n eed cu rren t lists o f th e hom e telephone num bers o f others in th e ir departm ent. And since public phones fre­ quently com e back online before residential and business ones, money for these should be kept handy. As soon as possible after th e disaster, it was suggested th at one staff m em ber b e assigned as the inform ation officer or public relations specialist to adm inister and dissem inate official information. Some acknow ledgem ent needs to be m ade that during em ergency and recovery periods, th e re is a greatly heightened “n eed to know” caused by th e dem ands o f uncertainty. Faculty and campus adm inistrators should be contacted to clarify any restricted access to the collections and resources so they can adjust assign­ m ents and requirem ents for th e ir students. I f the collection will be inaccessible for an extended p e ­ riod o f tim e, reciprocal borrowing and/or use ar­ rangem ents with local institutions n eed to be estab­ lished. To facilitate such agreem ents and th e sharing of expertise, supplies, recovery skills, and general moral support, libraries n eed to fashion bare-bones networking linkages so th at at least minimal contact is m aintained. Perhaps a central office located at a designated library could serve as a com m unications h u b for th e latest inform ation on libraries. Finally, there is an urgent n eed to practice build­ ing evacuation, especially d u rin g evening and w eekend hours w hen minimal staffing exists. Such sessions will quickly highlight flaws in procedures and allow for adjustments. Conclusions Painful and traum atic as it was to get through the quake, unending aftershocks, and first few days of uncertainty, we gained hard-won insights. These will make our em ergency com m unication te c h ­ niques and responses to future disasters better. O ne librarian from th e University o f California, Santa Cruz, rem arked th a t th e re is a renew ed sense November 1 9 9 0 1 933 o f fellowship coming from the shared experience. Such fellowship has lead to tangible gains in library networking. F o r instance, at the N ovem ber 1989 California Library Association (CLA) Convention, almost every m eeting included a lengthy sharing session o f what happened as well as the responses. Valuable informal contacts and specific formal groups such as th e CLA Ad Hoc E arthquake C om m ittee have b een formed. A nother example is an LSCA grant spearheaded by the South Bay Cooperative Library System. Encom passing multi-type libraries, this grant p ro ­ poses to fund workshops in which team s from special, public, academic, and school libraries cre­ ate model disaster plans. The prim ary goals are to: “1. Im prove the capability o f Bay Area libraries o f all types to respond to and recover from natural disasters, and 2. Establish a framework for regional disaster cooperation by libraries o f all types.”4 W e have touched upon ju st some o f th e com m u­ nication techniques which will undoubtedly be expanded and added to by these and other n e t­ works. As we and colleagues continue to explore these issues, em ergency com m unication will b e ­ com e an integral p art o f w hat makes us “inform a­ tion professionals.” A u th o r s note: Library s ta ff at the follow ing campuses were consulted: University o f California at Santa Cruz and Berkeley; California State Uni­ versity at San Jose and San Francisco; and Stanford University. ■ H 4South Bay Libraries Disaster Training Project. C alifornia State Library, Library Services and C onstruction Act, 1990/91, Title III, Library C o­ operative Projects Application, May 30, 1990. Ornamental frieze discovered during Missouri Historical Society’s renovation project T he Missouri Historical Society’s efforts to p re ­ serve th e historic character o f the old U nited H ebrew Tem ple, which will house the Society’s new library and research center, have b een re ­ w arded with the discovery o f a handsom e Byzan- tine-style frieze. T he frieze, preserved u n d er plaster board and w ire m esh, was uncovered at th e base o f th e tem p le’s 30-foot dome. After restoration, th e frieze will com plem ent th e reading room, the heart o f th e new library. T he $9.1 million project, on the w estern edge o f F orest Park in St. Louis, was begun last year. W hen com pleted in late 1991, the renovated structure will house the Missouri Historical Society’s collec­ tions o f books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, photographs, prints, and video material. Included are the private papers o f Thomas Jefferson and Charles A. Lindbergh, the original journals from th e Lewis and Clark expedition, and docum ents from th e N orth American fur trade and th e F ren ch and Spanish colonial regimes. To make way for th ree floors o f stack space for the library collec­ tions, the old heating system, classrooms, and seat­ ing w ere rem oved from the old building and a new 54,000 square foot conservation annex is being added to the south o f th e old building. T he U nited H ebrew Tem ple was purchased by th e History M useum Subdistrict of the M etropoli­ tan Zoological Park and M useum District in F e b ru ­ ary 1989 so th at th e 65-year-old structure could be reconditioned for use by the Missouri Historical Society. T he Byzantine tem ple was originally d e­ signed by the St. Louis architectural firm o f Maritz and Young, collaborating with Gabriel Ferrand, for th e U nited H ebrew Congregation. It was recently placed on th e National Register o f Historic Places as p art o f th e W ydown-Forsyth historic district. Dan Kloeppel, project superintendent f o r B S I o f St. Louis, cleans a frie ze at the fo r m e r United Hebrew Temple now u n d er renovation b y the Missouri Historical Society f o r its library and research center. ACQUIS1 L PERSPE 1 H j 6 a Book H ouse is in its fo u rth gen­ eratio n of au to m a tio n . O u r custom softw are allow s us the flexibility• accept o rd ers generated th ro u g h y o u r com puterized system o r in the mail. O u r policy is to d com patibility w ith the autom ated sys­ tem in y o u r library to facilitate receiv­ ing orders, transm itting open order re­ p o rts an d invoices electronically. Let's explore interfacing you r auto­ mation with ours. 1 II t h e B O O K HOUSE INC. 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