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Disaster Recovery Campaign and PlanningALIA's bushfire submissionClick here to view ALIA's submission to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. Murrindindi mobile library's special deliverySouth Australian author Chris Tugwell heard about ALIA's Rebuilding with Books campaign, and contacted us wanting to arrange the donation of approximately200 "as new" children's books. The books were generously provided by Ekidna's, a South Australian children's writer's network, and by Chris Tugwell. Chris expressed the hope that the books could go to the children in the bushfire affected areas. ALIA was able to arrange to deliver the books to Kate Tucker, of the Murrindindi Mobile Library Service. Kate was really pleased to receive the books, saying the children would be excited to receive them. Kate will be distributing the books to the children, some of whom have lost both their school and their home in the bushfires, through her mobile library rounds.
Guides for library managersDownload the ALIA Guide to Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery for Libraries and ALIA Templates - Disaster Planning for Libraries from the sidebar. These documents are a starting point. We intend to add case studies and examples of best practice from libraries around Australia where staff have faced emergency situations and can share what they have learnt with library colleagues. If you have something to contribute, please contact sue.mckerracher@alia.org.au. We will also be adding fact sheets which libraries can download, print and hand out to patrons. Library, book and arts organisations working together
Rebuilding with Books is a cooperative venture led by ALIA and the Australian Booksellers Association. The ALIA campaign has been made possible by financial sponsorship from the Victorian State Government, through Local Government Minister Richard Wynne; Arts Victoria; the State Library of Victoria; School Library Association of Victoria; Public Libraries Victoria Network; Borders, and the 'customers of Dynix in Victoria' user group. Our grateful thanks go to these organisations. We also have the support of the Australian Publishers Association; Friends of Libraries Australia, and Blue Shield Australia (the cultural equivalent of the Red Cross), and we have consulted with the Municipal Association of Victoria; Museums Australia Victoria, and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria. The big book sort - week 1
Thirty-six volunteers came to help with the Rebuilding with Books week of book sorting at the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority warehouse in Clayton from 5 to 9 October. More than 180 pallets of new and second-hand books have been donated to bushfire relief, but they are all in mixed boxes, in various conditions, from stained and scribbled over children's books and well-thumbed thrillers to pristine new hardback novels. In the five days, we estimate we got through some 30 pallets (or 72,000 books), out of which we extracted 6 pallets-worth of grade A new and mint-condition second-hand books, with a large number of grade B books for booksellers to pick over and, sadly, a whole heap of grade C books which will probably end up being destroyed. This effort enabled the first delivery of 2000 books each to Healesville Library, Yarra Junction Library, Drouin Library, Hurstbridge Relief Centre, Murrindindi Library Service and Kilmore Library to take place, with a further allocation for the Salvos' relief centre at Whittlesea. A second week of book sorting takes place from 10am to 5pm from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, inclusive. If you can come, contact ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager Sue McKerracher on 0404 456749 or sue.mckerracher@alia.org.au. Rebuilding with Books
Download Rebuilding with Books campaign materials from the sidebar. ALIA, the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and Australian Publishers' Association (APA) have launched Rebuilding with Books, an initiative to help families who lost their main home and its contents in the bushfires. More than 4800 people face the prospect of rebuilding. The immediate need is for walls, a roof, furniture, fittings, but what about those other things that make a house a home - the pictures, the music, the games and toys, and, of course, the books? Our goal is to provide new books for families with empty bookshelves. Download the full advance notice and library flyer from the sidebar. ALIA Disaster Recovery - the first six months
"Thank you so much for the children's books which arrived last week. They are already being read by the two little grandchildren." "We are writing to say a very BIG thank you for our wonderful books that we picked up from Eltham Library last week. It was like Christmas when we opened the boxes and saw some of our old favourites. We now have some books to put on the bookshelf … It was such a great idea to do this and it is the little things like books that make such a difference." ALIA's acting Disaster Recovery Project Manager Jane Grace and her team at Yarra Plenty Regional Library (YPRL) have been working hard since Black Saturday, providing support to libraries and families caught up in the Victorian bushfires. You can see in detail what they have been doing on http://bacwiki.wikidot.com. Three school libraries were destroyed in the fires around Nillumbik. The public libraries were untouched, and these, together with the YPRL mobile library, have proved invaluable as community centres still standing among so much destruction. The library staff have been incredible, providing a haven for the distressed, and an escape from the daily realities for families living in makeshift campsites. While it was in the area, the army even slept in the Kinglake library. In the initial weeks, thousands of second hand books were donated to bushfire affected communities and Jane's team had the difficult task of storing them, sorting out the best books, and arranging delivery to the people who most needed them. This phase of the operation is now complete and no more second hand books are needed. Offers of help have flooded in, from as far afield as the US, and Jane's role has been to coordinate these, working directly with families, and through public libraries and the Mitchell, Whittlesea, Nillumbik and Murrindindi Recovery Centres. Her staff have also participated in community events, for example the Diamond Valley Baptist Church Gigantic Garage Sale, which raised over $10,000. In addition, the ALIA/YPRL team has worked with local schools, and established partnerships with several organisations, including the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA), the Australian Publishers Association (APA), the State Library of Victoria, School Library Association of Victoria and Public Libraries Victoria Network.
Jane's StoryRead the report about what happened immediately after the Victorian bushfires of February and in the five months that followed. Jane's Story captures not only the challenges facing libraries in the aftermath of a natural disaster on a massive scale, and the factual information about how these were addressed, but also a very personal account of how the tragedy unfolded. The report is available to download from the side bar. Collaborative planning responseThe recent Victorian bushfires and Queensland/New South Wales floods have brought home to library managers the fragility of our situation. In just a few hours, nature can wreak havoc with the communities we serve, the buildings we inhabit and the collections we strive to protect. ALIA has agreed with partners from Public Libraries of Australia, state public library associations, school libraries and the book industry that a collaborative approach is needed, firstly to respond to current situations and secondly to develop planning tools and resources to enable libraries to be better prepared for crisis management and disaster recovery in the future. ALIA will be carrying out a program of work that will include:
Disaster recovery project managerALIA has appointed a project manager to be responsible for developing and managing the library sector's response to natural and man-made disasters. Sue McKerracher will take on the part-time role from 1 July 2009, for a six month period. Jane Grace, Yarra Plenty Regional Library Service outreach manager, was acting project manager until July. She stepped into the breach in the aftermath of the Victorian bushfires and has done an excellent job of coordinating libraries' assistance to the affected communities. Contact
For further information or inquiries about disaster recovery, please call or email Sue McKerracher, ALIA Project Manager |
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