Written Plan

The creation of an institution-specific, written Disaster Management Plan must form the basis for the preparation phase of disaster management planning. The Library’s plan must be compatible with other relevant plans elsewhere in the organisation. A designated person must be made responsible for its accuracy and currency, and a clear timetable for reviewing and updating the plan must be agreed upon. The plan should ideally be kept in a loose-leaf binder to allow for easy updating, and if a version is available via the Library's intranet, care should be taken that the electronic and hard copy versions remain in step. Any major revisions of the plan should result in it being reprinted in its entirety, to avoid confusion. Pages should be numbered and dated. Any updates to the procedures manuals should be signed and dated. The plan should be divided into four sections: prevention, preparedness, reaction and recovery. It should be clear, succinct, flexible and easy to understand, whilst also including all the information necessary to inform a speedy reaction in a disaster situation. Jargon should be avoided, so that the plan may be easily understood by other professionals such as fire officers. Flow charts may be used where they will aid understanding of the procedures to be followed. It may help to use appendices for charts, plans and other local information, to keep the plan succinct.
    
All members of the Disaster Reaction Teams, the Disaster Manager, Disaster Reaction Manager and the Disaster Recovery Manager should have two copies of the plan, one to be kept at work and one at home. Senior management and site managers may also need copies of the plan. Each site should have access to the plan, although some sections (such as the location of rare or valuable items or home phone numbers) may be kept out of general circulation. All holders and locations of the Disaster Management Plan should be listed.
For multi-site institutions the next step will be to decide whether to adopt an institution wide or a local response, how to store salvage supplies etc

Chain of Command

A clear chain of command must be established and followed in the event of a disaster. This may include the appointment and training of some or all of the following:

• Disaster Manager
• Library Director
• Disaster Reaction Manager
• Disaster Recovery Manager
• Press Officer
• Senior manager in the institution

Disaster Reaction Teams

Personnel available to be called on in a disaster situation must be identified and trained. The precise structure of the reaction teams will vary according to the needs and the resources of each institution

Health and Safety

A library disaster may well affect the working environment of staff, and their health and safety must be the primary concern. Health and Safety regulations cover working in a disaster area and must be followed. Advice may also be obtained from local emergency services attending the incident. Circumstances may dictate that staff not trained to deal with a disaster, (i.e. those staff not part of a Disaster Reaction Team) should be evacuated from the area and be found another place of work, should a disaster occur during working hours. The Disaster Management Plan should lay down the circumstances under which the library should be closed and the building evacuated along with local procedures for achieving this. It should be borne in mind that the Library management may not be in control of the whole building when drawing up evacuation procedures or consequent working arrangements. Consideration should be given to procedures for evacuating staff and students with disabilities in an emergency, especially those with mobility, sight or hearing impairments.

Training

A training programme must be devised, based around the Library’s own Disaster Management Plan. This will encompass several levels of involvement in the disaster planning process. All staff should receive training, similar to that undertaken for Health and Safety procedures, covering reporting potential problems, raising the alarm, key personnel and the circumstances under which evacuation procedures would be implemented. It should be borne in mind that the Library management may not be in control of the whole building when drawing up evacuation procedures or consequent working arrangements. Once initial training has been completed, the training programme should become part of induction training for new staff.

Disaster Reaction Team members will obviously receive more detailed training covering the role of team members and its limits, when and where to seek advice and the work involved during a disaster scenario. These sessions should ideally contain a practical "hands-on" element and a detailed tour of the building.

Training for the managers who will have to co-ordinate the reaction and recovery in response to a disaster should include a simulated disaster (table-top exercise), to help them understand the processes involved. This will also help to reveal any weaknesses in the Library’s Disaster Management Plan, in advance of any actual implementation of the plan. In addition, training must cover the skills necessary for managing staff under great stress, as staff who have not previously experienced a similar disaster may find it unexpectedly upsetting and/or exhausting.

Regular training should also take place on the procedures for the restoration of IT services in an emergency.

It should be noted that disasters which occur out of hours may well be discovered by non-library staff, such as security or maintenance staff. These staff should receive training based on the Procedures for Initial Action on Discovering a Disaster. They should also be made aware in advance of the need for prompt action in the event of all types of disaster.

Insurance

As part of the preparation phase of disaster planning library staff should familiarise themselves with the insurance cover provided by their institution. If possible, talk with the insurers (via the finance department or other central administration as appropriate) to discover:

• The scope of the insurance.
• Whether the valuation of the library’s collections and other contents is realistic. Special collections and other valuable/unique material may require separate insurance and it may sometimes be deemed advisable to insure for the cost of conservation, as opposed to the cost of replacement; specialist advice should be sought. 
• Whether there is any limit on the value of single items covered. 
• The level of spending the Disaster Reaction Manager will be able to authorise in the event of an emergency. 
• Any extra insurance needed to cover stock in transit or temporary storage or extra opening hours or emergency accommodation for readers and staff. 
• Any extra insurance needed to cover hired equipment. 
• Any extra insurance needed to cover staff working out of hours and or in a disaster situation.
  

The insurance company should be contacted as soon as possible after a disaster is discovered. The plan should specify whether this is the responsibility of the Disaster Reaction Manager or whether the insurer should be alerted via the finance or other central department, in line with institutional policy. In the event of a major disaster the insurance company will appoint a loss adjuster to assess the institution’s claim. The loss adjuster will usually offer advice and in some cases, will arrange for labour to help with very heavy work unsuitable for Disaster Reaction Team members. If necessary, extra labour may also be obtained via agencies for tasks such as data entry.

NB It will be necessary to prove loss in the event of an insurance claim using catalogues and inventories of equipment and furniture (Matthes and Eden, 1996). Back-up copies of these should be kept at another location. This is especially important in the case of special collections material, which, by its nature, is often not catalogued online; back-up copies of any existing manual catalogues should be made and stored off-site.

Library Floor Plans

Floor plans of all areas covered by the Disaster Management Plan should be prepared and included in the plan. It may be useful to laminate copies so that they can be pulled out of the Disaster Management Plan binder during a disaster and easily consulted by the emergency services or Disaster Reaction staff. The floor plans should show the locations of:

• Fire exits, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, sprinkler systems (where present), assembly points.
• Air conditioning systems (where present). 
• Electrical, water, sewerage, drainage and gas systems, highlighting fuse boxes, stop cocks and isolation valves.
• Salvage priorities and the location of the emergency equipment bins. 
• First aid boxes.
  

To avoid plans becoming too "busy" several plans of the same area may be included, for example one for fire precautions and one for salvage priorities and the location of emergency equipment.

Salvage Priorities

In the event of a disaster there will be very little time in which to make decisions. It is therefore essential that priorities for the salvage and recovery of the library’s collections are agreed and recorded before any event, and documented in the written Disaster Management Plan.
It is possible that it may be more cost effective to dispose of easily-replaced material, especially if it is badly damaged. It would be necessary to compare the value of the item, its uniqueness and its function within the library service with the unit cost of salvage, while also noting the requirements of the insurance company. This is especially true of some non-book material, such as microforms, where salvage is difficult, expensive and not very successful. Material with water-soluble ink will need to be salvaged immediately, if at all. Newspapers and cuttings also respond poorly to restoration and replacement, or replacement by surrogates, should be considered where possible. If necessary, restoration should be left until last when staff will have had most experience of dealing with damaged material.
Much special collections material is likely to be both unique and valuable and therefore will merit salvage even when severely damaged, despite the difficulties and expense involved.
Once the stock worth salvaging has been identified, it should be prioritised according to its value, uniqueness and function within the library service. The fragility of individual items may also be considered. Priorities may be set for the library or archive as a whole and also for individual departments or areas, which may save time in the event of a localised problem. Priorities will have to be implemented flexibly, where access to the affected area is restricted or where the extent of the damage varies. Remember to consider unique administration files, e.g. personnel/ financial and Inter-Library Loans records as well as collections and their ancillary files. If possible mark the prioritised material, but do not rely entirely on colour coding or marking, as light levels during a disaster may be very low. The use of fluorescent shelf markers, which glow in low light, enabling priority items to be identified, can aid quick retrieval. Details and locations of items to be treated as priorities should be recorded in the Disaster Management Plan.

IT Preparedness

Disaster preparedness in relation to IT services in the Library should form part of the Library’s written Disaster Management Plan.
IT services are at risk from “disasters” such as fire and flood but are also particularly vulnerable to theft, hardware/software failure, security breach/hacking and virus attacks.
The nature of Library automation means that a loss of IT functionality can seriously inhibit the Library’s ability to provide even the most basic service to users and suppliers; and will have a detrimental effect on staff’s ability in carrying out their day to day duties.

Responsibilities

The extent of the Library’s role in IT disaster preparedness depends on the level of responsibility it has for IT provision. This will depend on the Institution’s departmental structure. It is important therefore to establish levels of responsibility; in essence who is responsible for what and who has to be contacted in the event of a disaster.

Some examples of that need to be clarified are:

• Library computerised management system
• The server the management system runs on 
• The server operating system software including security, virus protection. 
• Periphery library systems eg ILL, intranet, online exam papers 
• Network, email and Internet access, including security, virus protection.  
• CD-ROM network and associated server and operating system. 
• Other general PC support 
• Audio-visual equipment 
• Any other IT services offered in the Library.
  

The Disaster Manager should identify key staff to and agree levels of responsibility, bearing in mind they may not necessarily be library staff. It should include the following:

• The designated Disaster Manager
• Systems librarian or equivalent 
• Appropriate staff from IT Department
  

All designated staff should have a copy of IT disaster plan; a copy should also be available in the server room, or the room where the Library server is located. Out of hours contact details should also be known. It is important that contact is maintained with designated staff and informing them of changes, such as in key personnel, and in the acquisition or proposed acquisition of new IT equipment.

General preparedness

Servers should be kept in a dedicated server room which provides a safe environment including security from theft, and temperature control. An Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system should be installed so that, in the event of an unexpected power cut, servers will be shut down automatically or will be kept running for a period of time that would allow staff to conduct a controlled shutdown (or for power to be restored). Members of the Library Disaster team should know how to safely shut down Library IT systems should advanced warning of a power cut be given. Servers and computers should be protected by the latest anti-virus software and security patches.

Back-ups should be run on a regular basis, preferably daily. Use a separate tape for each weekday. Clearly label the contents of each tape and the date it was created. The latest back-up tape should be stored offsite. Ensure the tapes are stored in a stable environment - away from damp, dust, high temperature and humidity. Keep tape drives clean, for example, run a DAT cleaning tape regularly.Replace the tapes on a regular basis as they degrade through natural wear and tear.

It may be worth investing in an additional server to copy data and mirror discs. Consider options to back up the OPAC - e.g. membership of COPAC, or card catalogue. Many manuals are now online and may not be available during a disaster, so print out hardcopies of important sections.

Staff should be aware of the location of:

• IT equipment, servers.
• Fire exits, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, sprinkler systems (where present), assembly points. 
• Air conditioning systems (where present). 
• Electrical, water, sewerage, drainage and gas systems, highlighting fuse boxes, stop cocks and isolation valves. 
• Salvage priorities and the location of the emergency equipment bins. 
• First aid boxes.
  

Maintenance contracts

All IT components should have appropriate support, servicing and maintenance contracts. Keep a list of contractors with contact details including emergency numbers/out of hours support. Make sure it is clear which vendor is responsible for what and on which circumstances they should be called out.
Some examples:

• Library system vendor
• Server hardware vendor 
• CD-ROM vendor
  

If support is required, have the work done on site, so that regular monitoring of the quality of work is possible.

Identify data recovery firms - if need be, contact them:

• to ensure that the equipment you use is compatible with the types of systems they recover.
• to find out how much a typical recovery costs; 
• to advise on what precautions should be observed to ensure highest possible chance of successful recovery.
  

Most data can be recovered but costs and time factor are considerations to weigh against doing it.

Inventory

Compile a current list of all computer and IT equipment held in the Library, and any equipment that is used solely by the library but is stored offsite. The inventory should list the make, model and serial number of the equipment; the location of the equipment and the date purchased and cost when purchased. This can be used to form basis of an insurance claim.

IT Priorities

It should be clear which IT functions should take priority when restoring IT services.

Service Continuity

The Library system should have an offline circulation module that allows the circulation desk to function during a library systems or network failure. Staff should be fully trained in the module and the offline system should be tested on a regular basis.
If the Library system does not have an offline module, prepare manual back-up procedures, and draw up forms which allow staff to record transactions. Make sure the forms are available at all times.

Post and new stock will almost always continue to arrive. Acquisitions and Serial check-ins may have to be done manually, or priority may need to be given to provide staff with sufficient IT facilities to enable them to cope with deliveries.

If the disaster is confined to the library only then have arrangements with IT to provide back-up computers if required.

Cooperative systems

Plans should be drawn up to ensure that alternative IT facilities are made available either elsewhere within a multi-site institution or through co-operative agreements between libraries. Such mutual support agreements should allow students access to IT facilities should their institution be affected by a major disaster.

Insurance

The nominated staff should familiarise themselves with the insurance cover provided by their institution to ensure that all IT equipment is covered. It should be ascertained whether there is any limit on the value of single items covered.
The plan should specify whether this is the responsibility of the Disaster Reaction Manager or whether it should be done through the Finance Department, in line with institutional policy.

Emergency Equipment

A rapid response will generally be called for in a disaster, especially where the disaster has resulted in damage to the collections. Having the appropriate emergency equipment available can contain the disaster and prevent damage to collections, and ensure that the Disaster Reaction Team can begin salvage work at the earliest moment. Decide what emergency equipment to hold internally, what can be obtained from other departments within the institution and what can be obtained (quickly) from outside companies. The supplies will need to be checked regularly and any faulty equipment replaced. The following factors should be considered when making decisions relating to emergency equipment:

• The size of the library or institution and the available budget.
• The nature of the Library’s collections. 
• How much of the collections it has been decided to attempt to salvage. 
• Whether the institution has a disaster recovery contract with an organisation, which would supply heavy equipment on demand. 
• Whether the institution has the space to store large items. 
• Whether the institution's insurers require the equipment to be held onsite. 
• Whether the Library’s staff are able to use the equipment or whether it requires specialist training.
  

A list of the Emergency Equipment kept by the institution, its precise location and a list of firms which can supply additional equipment should be placed in the written Disaster Management Plan. It is generally recommended that the supplies be kept in a wheeled box or wheelie bin. Thought should be given to the location of such supplies, e.g. they should be stored close at hand but in low-risk areas. Reaction times during the Colorado State University Libraries flood were slowed by the loss of the preservation disaster supply cabinet which had been stored in the basement (Serials Librarian 36, 1999). The location of the emergency supplies should be noted in the Disaster Management Plan and clearly marked on floor plans.

Emergency equipment must be included in equipment maintenance schedules and those responsible should sign to state that the relevant checks and maintenance routines have been carried out, and the optimum period for review

Suppliers of Emergency Equipment and Services  

Equipment and supplies not held locally may still be needed quickly, as may expert advice. Therefore initial contact with suppliers and specialist services should be made in advance and contracts negotiated where appropriate. Not all the categories covered in the template will be needed by every library.

If using a contractor for any part of the work, make sure the contract is clear that control of the operation is in the hands of the Disaster Managers not the contractor. If appropriate have the work done on site, so that regular monitoring of the quality of work is possible.

Emergency Ordering and Invoicing Procedures

During a disaster situation it will not be possible to handle ordering and invoicing in the normal way. Advise finance departments in advance of the sheer scale of spending and number of invoices, which will be necessary during the first and crucial 48 hours after the disaster. Some cash transactions may be necessary. Normal decision making procedures will need to be streamlined, as speed of response will be critical, although it is possible that tendering will still be required. A system for dealing with special arrangements and the extra workload should be put into place and the procedures noted in the written Disaster Management Plan, along with a named contact in the Finance Department.    

Accommodation for Salvage Operations

Identify possible alternative accommodation for salvage operations, assuming that some or all of the library environment is too badly affected by the disaster for anything other than initial packing and sorting to be undertaken there. It will be necessary to identify the type of accommodation, the probable floor loading, and proportion of public area to salvage area. Obviously this will be easier for a multi-site institution as services can be provided at other sites. Assuming that they are not already in use, examination tables may be used in the salvage area to provide drying surfaces or work tables.

During almost any disaster postal deliveries and new stock will continue to arrive. Priority may therefore need to be given to providing technical and bibliographical staff with sufficient facilities to enable them to cope with deliveries. They will also then be able to begin identifying items lost for insurance claims using the catalogue.
Consideration should be given in advance to the necessary security arrangements to protect staff, readers, the affected building and collection material during the reaction and recovery phases.

Business continuity can be defined as follows:

Business continuity describes the processes and procedures an organisation puts in place to ensure that essential functions can continue during and after a disaster. Business continuity planning seeks to prevent interruption of mission-critical services, and to re-establish full functioning as swiftly and smoothly as possible. The first step in business continuity planning is deciding which of the organisation's functions are essential, and apportioning the available budget accordingly. ...
Quote from: www.globalvoice.com/index.asp

Advocacy

Within the organisation
    
Advocacy is the act of encouraging people to join in and act together and to feel involved and carry out certain extra roles e.g. in the event of an emergency. That is the value added factor to their working environment.
    
It is essential that your organisation encourages the process of devising a Business Continuity Plan and devotes time and resources to it.  Awareness and agreement has to come from institutional senior management and be agreed for immediate reaction in the event of a disaster with middle management, team leaders, security staff, fire officers, health and safety officers, etc. Finance and Insurance officers must also be aware of the plan and be in agreement about the implications of immediate costs incurred in implementing business continuity and their continuing role with costs and insurance claims.

Within the library

Larger institutions may have a Business Continuity Manager and Disaster Recovery Manager with responsibility for the entire institution.  In smaller institutions the Business Continuity Manager and Disaster Recovery Manager may cover both the library and the wider institution. In larger organisations it is essential that the institutional and sectional post-holders co-ordinate their activities.
    
It is essential that staff at all levels in the library are aware of the Business Continuity Plan and of their role in it.

The matrix system is useful for involving all staff in a library including support staff, such as cleaners. This works by setting up groups of people with different jobs and learning from their perspective of the same section. In this way staff will understand their inter-dependencies. An analysis of jobs and their impact on each other and each section will be useful when reinstating services which may differ according to section, time of year, user demands and institutional responsibilities. The timescales for restarting services will be a local matter, depending on security safety and operational issues.

Dependencies

All libraries have dependencies both internally and externally and these should form part of your critical thinking. There are the users (customers), staff, suppliers, IT systems, the organisation and competitors; these all have to be considered and at some point may have to be involved.

Supporters

Organisations within the local area or the parent organisation (e.g. University of London) which will assist with student / staff space, library access, canteen facilities etc. Think of those you pass every day on your way to your institution;  you can informally make contacts and nurture relationships with these, and keep up contacts with institutions outside your area too. They can all feed into a formal institutional plan before you actually need their help!

Role definition

The roles of Business Continuity Manager and Disaster Recovery Manager should be kept separate and assigned to different members of staff if at all possible. However, the two must work in tandem. Each must be aware of the other’s plans and actions as they happen and must liaise constantly during a disaster. Their teams must also be aware of each other’s responsibilities and actions. Business Continuity Manager Role Definition: To co-ordinate all business continuity systems in order to effect the smooth running of a limited but useful service in the event of an emergency. This includes organising the library’s functional analysis, risk assessment and compilation of system flow as part of the BC plan of action. The BCM should be a senior member of staff, with the authority to put agreed systems in place, but also, in consultation with the DRC and other staff, both library and institutional, to devise any appropriate solutions which become necessary.  

Functional analysis

A functional analysis of the library service will help in advocacy and overall structuring of the plan and will assist in the risk assessment.
    
It should identify:
    

• What is done
• Who does it 
• Why they do it 
• Who they do it for 
• And when
  

This can be co-ordinated by the Business Continuity Manager using the flow of information from the dependencies groups, surveying student needs, formal organisational charts, job descriptions and the library mission statement and aims and objectives. The analysis will be time-consuming, but will give a good overview not only for business continuity purposes, but as a general guide for the library and the institution. Functional analysis will require looking into each job and section in minute detail and will require the occupant of the job and the manager and staff of the section to liaise with each other about the results. A start can be made by each post holder going over their job description and describing the tasks listed, what the tasks consist of, whom they come into contact with during the work how their work is related to others eg. Is it held up by someone else not doing their job. The section staff should then pool the results and discuss how their section impinges on others or other sections on theirs. This information can be collated and used to inform the structure of the library and feed into its organisational chart. It will assist with planning for reinstatement of services in a useful order.    

Risk Assessment

The first step in disaster prevention is to undertake a risk assessment. It should be noted that disasters - other than natural catastrophes - are seldom caused by a single incident3 and are therefore to some extent preventable. The risks to each institution may vary, but the following should be considered: fire, flood, theft, vandalism, document deterioration, environmental conditions, infestation and bomb threats and other terrorist attacks. The Library and Archives plan should be developed in conjunction with the Institution’s Disaster Reaction Plan and the relevant fire, security and senior officers of the institution. It may be useful for the Library or Archive to make contact with disaster recovery specialists in their field and develop an agreement for action in the event of an emergency.
    
Risk assessment discerns risks associated with the core business functions.

This can be aided by the results of the functional analysis, as roles, responsibilities and dependencies will have been identified.

Method

Spend time identifying the risks - that is, anything that will affect your daily business. Eliminate minor risks as far as is possible and raise awareness of those that cannot be fully resolved. Risks can be physical, such as trailing wires, which could be a hazard during any exit but particularly during an emergency,  to computer back-up systems, leave rotas, daily diary – who is expected to be where when, different book suppliers and new cleaners. Use the managers and the dependency groups and complete a risk assessment form, such as the example below. This can be adapted to suit any organisation.

Information and dissemination

Information for the risk assessment must be gathered using all staff so that everyone who is employed in the library is involved.  This is part of the advocacy system, but has an additional benefit of raising awareness of major risks. The outcomes of the assessments and any remedial action required must be disseminated to all staff. There should be a formal method for this, using the section managers and / or the dependencies groups.

Outcome – effective business continuity planning

If the systems above are followed, analyses written up and disseminated amongst library staff and senior members of the organisation, you will know exactly what you do, who you’re doing it for and why.
 
RECORD OF RISK ASSESSMENT
Institution: Library: Section

1.    SUBJECT (HAZARD) BEING ASSESSED:
2.    LOCATION(S):
3.    WHO IS AT RISK:
3a)    WHAT IS AT RISK:
4.    ASSESSED LEVEL OF RISK: (Ι)LOW     (ΙΙ) MEDIUM         (ΙΙΙ)HIGH
5(a)    WHAT RISK CONTROLS (IF ANY) ARE CURRENTLY IN PLACE:
5(b)    DO THEY ADEQUATELY CONTROL THE RISK?
6.    ACTION NOW CONSIDERED NECESSARY TO CONTROL THE RISK?

7.    DATE ASSESSMENT UNDERTAKEN
7 (b)   REVIEW DATE
8.    ASSESSED BY:

DATE

The results of the risk assessment should be noted in the prevention section of the written Disaster Management Plan along with the status of any necessary remedial action and all maintenance or security routines etc. Simple good housekeeping practices can mitigate the likelihood of many disasters.

Risk assessments will need to be repeated and documented regularly, particularly after building alterations.    

Scenario Planning

To help your colleagues think about what would have to be done to restore service in the event of a disaster, it can be helpful to undertake scenario planning exercises.  Such exercises can be just as valuable for senior institutional management and for senior library management as for the business continuity manager and his or her team.
    
The Business Continuity Manager should draw up a range of disaster scenarios, based on those risks you have identified in your risk assessment as being most likely to occur and / or to have a major impact on your service.  Set aside time – a couple of “away-day” sessions may work best – to discuss these with key colleagues;  in a large institution these may be the library’s own Business Continuity Group, in a smaller institution they may be the bulk of the library staff.  Work through the scenarios, with your functional analysis of the library’s core services in mind, and try to plan how you would aim to restore service in your priority areas and what the major problems and dependencies are likely to be.  If there are areas that could be addressed by other parts of your institution, summarise the findings of the scenario planning exercise and present your report to the relevant senior officers.
    
Sample scenario planning exercises might be:

• A burst water main in the road outside your main library, with consequent flooding of the basement.  The basement contains your server room and your special collections storage area [this might lead the library to question the advisability of these locations]
• A fire in a chemical laboratory above your busy science library in the month before Finals examinations [this might lead the library to look at possibilities for alternative study space nearby and the institution to check that appropriate fire prevention measures are in place in the laboratories] A major influenza pandemic in a country from which many students come to study in the UK [this might lead to the institution reviewing cleaning and hygiene procedures with cleaning and catering contractors and cutting down on social gatherings in an attempt to reduce the risk of infection.  The library might be called upon to prepare for a temporary complete shutdown, in the event of the pandemic reaching the UK]
• In all these cases by thinking through every implication of the scenario as thoroughly as you can with your colleagues, you will not only spot areas that can be acted on now but also ensure that, if disaster does strike, you will have a business continuity plan ready.  It may turn out that the plan cannot be put into effect in every respect but its existence will give staff a structure to work with and refer to at a time when it might be easy to panic – and this will be of immense value in itself.
  

Equipment

As part of the scenario planning exercise, the Business Continuity Manager and colleagues can create a checklist of equipment and other supplies that will be needed in order to restore an interim service in the event of a disaster.
Some of this equipment may be readily available elsewhere in the institution;  some can be stockpiled and stored, preferably offsite;  for some it will be more appropriate to make sure that the institution has recognised suppliers in place who can meet demand quickly should the occasion arise.
    
A business continuity checklist might include:

• Basic stationery supplies (pens and pencils, paper, staplers and staples, paper clips, marker pens, adhesive tape, etc)
• Laptop computer(s) holding key operational documents and data
• Memory sticks for library staff holding key operational documents and data
• Mobile phones with key contact numbers stored
• PC and printer
• Kettle
• Heaters
•  Library consumables, such as barcodes, date labels, scanners, 5”x3” index cards (for running a temporary manual circulation system, if necessary) etc.
• Suppliers identified and prior contact made for:  basic office furniture; temporary shelving; crate hire; photocopiers
  

Policies

It will also be helpful to agree in advance (and set down in writing) what alterations or suspensions to normal library regulations or procedures will be made in the event of a partial or interim service only being provided.  This will help to ensure consistency of response and will also mean that library staff will have a framework document to turn to – and one less thing to have make decisions about on the spot.
    
Appropriate areas to consider include:

• Admissions procedures. The library might decide that only members of the institution will be admitted to an interim service area.  External users may be informed that they will only be admitted once a full service has been restored.
  
• Policy on fines.  The library will need to consider what to do with items that are due for return to the library.  For example, if library users are unable to enter the library building the day after the disaster to return their books, they will start the accrue fines unless a decision is made to waive all fines on items due back on that date.  
• Policy on photocopying.  If the library has to run an interim reference-only service, in which loanable items are available for on-site consultation only, there is likely to be a large rise in demand for photocopying facilities. The library may decide that charges for photocopying should be reduced or waived in these circumstances.  The library may also wish to consult the Copyright Licensing Agency about any possible waivers to existing regulations that may be appropriate in the event of a disaster.    
  

Service Continuity

A disaster which damages the library’s collections will clearly adversely affect the service provided by the library. However, there are other disasters which may interrupt the continuity of service provided by the library. Theft or vandalism may cause an IT failure, for example. Plans should be drawn up to ensure that alternative IT facilities or study spaces can be made available, perhaps elsewhere within a multi-site institution or through co-operative agreements on a local or regional basis.