E4GDH webinar: Librarian First Responders

In our second webinar, which took place on 14 March 2019, Feili Tu-Keefner [Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina] discusses her research into the role public librarians have played in times of crisis, and shares lessons learnt.

Content includes: Nature of the research; Public libraries involvement in facilitating emergency response and recovery before, during and after the disasters; Successful collaboration with other sectors and challenges faced; Role of technology; Skills and competencies required by professional librarians.

Subtitles / closed captions are available – click on Settings then Subtitles/CC and select ‘English (United States)’

Featured resources

The following resources featured in Feili’s presentation:

• Maximize the Potential of Your Public Library
  This includes Georgetown County Library “The Hurricane Project” case study, 2011.

• Librarian’s Disaster Planning and Community Resiliency Guidebook and Workbook
  New Jersey State Library toolkit.

• dPlan™: The Online Disaster-Planning Tool for Cultural and Civic Institutions
   
• Houston Public Library: Hurricane Preparedness

• Training Courses for the Disaster Information Specialist Program
  “a collection of resources on free training and education for professionals interested in identifying, using, and sharing disaster health information.”
   
• Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Recovery Resources
  National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM).

Additional resources were shared by participants during the webinar, via the chatbox:

• NNLM funding opportunities
  In the US, NLM [National Library of Medicine] coordinates eight regional libraries, each region has its own funding and grants available.
• Webliography of US Libraries active in disasters
• MLA Disaster Information Specialization
  Webinar participant: “Have taken the advanced DIS cert – can’t recommend it highly enough.”

Further Information

• Webinar slides [PDF]