I was honored when I was selected to be a delegate to represent New Mexico as part of the Rural Sustainability Project at the 2006 ALA Conference. I was really excited because I always wanted to attend but then I found out it was in New Orleans. All these thoughts started going through my head: Just before we were to go, the ALA and WebJunction sent out information that eased a lot of my concerns. They even set up a text messaging service to subscribe to incase of an emergency. I realized that the people planning this conference were trying to plan for any event that may occur. I was impressed. So, as I was on my way to New Orleans I was going through the conference brochure to see what workshops I would like to attend. All in all there were some very interesting workshops being promoted but I decided to go with the flow and see what interested me when I got there. On the ride to the hotel, we saw some of the devastation as we traveled through Metairie and Orleans Parish. We passed the Superdome and someone on the shuttle stated that it had been destroyed by a combination of the hurricane and because it was used as a shelter for so many victims of the flooding waters. We continued on and saw gorgeous buildings, remodeling, reconstruction and a thriving Warehouse District and the French Quarter. All of this piqued my curiosity. The next morning I had to register and attend a workshop for the Rural Sustainability Project. I remembered that I could see the convention center from the corner just down the road from our hotel. So I decided to walk - BIG mistake in 95º weather with 75% humidity. I could see the convention center but I didn't realize that it was about ¾ of a mile long and the registration was on the other end. "Mental note: shuttles have air conditioning!" I was in awe of how huge it was. This was "THE CONVENTION CENTER" from the news. They were still remodeling and repairing portions of the convention center. I couldn't believe that the "ENTIRE" center was destroyed as a result of the hurricane and the aftermath of human suffering. I started conducting mini interviews with people sitting next to me, cab drivers, bus drivers, the concierge and anyone that lived there. I found out that the tour companies were even giving tours of the 9th Ward where there had been extreme devastation for $40.00. Tour shops were selling T-shirts that said, "FEMA Evacuation Plan: Run, Mother F***er, Run!"; "Looters" with the Hooter's owl. They were using the disaster to generate revenue. The city of New Orleans was clawing their way back up after one of the most devastating hurricanes in the nation's history. You could see the progress. The ALA Conference was the first large conference to return to New Orleans. It was expected to generate $25,000,000 in revenue. This is when I decided on which programs I would like to attend. The ALA could have chosen another venue but they chose to stay with New Orleans. Nearly 17,000 librarians, exhibitors and library supporters attended the conference in New Orleans. It brought home to me that libraries are one of the factors that contribute most to a community. The local and state government had plans in place but they didn't take into account that the majority of the inhabitants wouldn't have any plans in place. I'm not the type to be star struck by an author, or even Laura Bush. I wanted to attend the workshops being presented by FEMA. I wanted to find out the real story, not just the ones I saw on the news. I wanted to talk to people that were there. I wanted to learn and I wanted to obtain the information to help my community. The workshops were very informative. Gayle Alston, Regional Training Manager, has been working for FEMA for 20 years. She was been involved with the recovery of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. She taught us what FEMA actually does, the chain of commands and showed us some pamphlets and websites to help plan for any type of catastrophic event. Our plans should include preparation and recovery plans. As a librarian I feel this information would be important to prepare the library in the event of a catastrophe but also to prepare our community. Attached is a list of links I thought would be useful in aiding our communities to plan for such events: Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov/ American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/index.html Ready.Gov: http://www.ready.gov/ Reese Library Disaster Preparedness Plan: http://www.aug.edu/library_administration/disaster/admin-disaster-plan.html Conservation Online, Disaster preparedness and response: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/disasters/ Emergency Preparedness Kits FEMA at ALA
Planning and Recovery Preparation for the
Entire Community in the Event of a Disaster
Documents
| FEMA at ALA |
This article was written by Cynthia Shetter, director at Los Lunas Public Library, New Mexico, as part of her participation in the Rural Forum at ALA 2006. She reports on her trip to New Orleans, ALA, and provides an excellent list of resources in a section on "Planning and Recovery Preparation for the Entire Community in the Event of a Disaster".
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