Public Library Partnerships with Local Agencies to Meet Community Disaster Preparedness and Response Needs

This paper reports on the initial findings of the first phase of a study funded by San Jose State University, USA to provide insight regarding how public libraries can be more involved in community-wide disaster planning, strengthening their role as core members of their communities' disaster preparedness and response infrastructure. The first phase of the study involves a nationwide survey of public library directors and library staff who are involved in coordinating disaster planning for their institutions. A survey was carr ied out during December 2014 and January 2015 to explore what public libraries can bring to community-wide planning efforts and the types of partnerships that are possible. The findings will provide library leaders with valuable insight on how to proactively engage in dialogue and planning with their local emergency management community. The second phase emerging from the research will involve follow-up in-depth explorations of the exemplary disaster planning models.