VOL. 21 NO. 4, DECEMBER, 2016
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Risk management and disaster recovery in public
libraries in South Australia: a pilot study
Diane L. Velasquez, Nina Evans, and Joanne Kaeding
Abstract
Introduction. This paper reports the findings of a study of
risk management in public libraries. The focus of the research
was to determine whether the libraries had a risk
management and disaster plan for major disasters.
Method. A qualitative study was done to investigate risk
management and disaster recovery in public libraries in
South Australia. Seven personal interviews were conducted
with library managers and librarians at four public libraries.
Analysis. The qualitative results emerging from the
interviews were analysed through hand coding using
grounded theory.
Results. Participants confused risk management and
disaster recovery with the practice of work (occupational)
health and safety. None of the participating libraries have a
risk management or disaster plan.
Conclusions. The library managers do not rate the risk of
disaster as high, believing that their library is located in a
low-risk disaster area. They also do not regard any part of
their collections to be of great value. Loss of a collection is
perceived as an opportunity to refresh that collection. The
participants do not consider risk management and disaster
recovery as an important part of their business.
Introduction
Natural disasters and man made threats can occur any
time and any place without warning. Being prepared is the
first step towards ensuring that an organization is ready to
handle a potential disaster. The level of severity of a
disaster or threat can determine whether the organization
is able to deal adequately with the situation. Muir and
Shenton (2002) explain that although 'risks can never be
completely removed, much can be done to mitigate their
effects'(p. 116). They also note that libraries and other
information management organizations are not likely to
have a comprehensive risk management or disaster plan,
unless they have been through a disaster before, or if they
are located in a high risk environment (e.g., sited on a
flood plain or in an area prone to tornadoes, cyclones or
hurricanes).
This paper investigates the use of risk management and
disaster plans in public libraries. The risk management
and disaster planning literature available is focused on
academic libraries. This research aims to explore the
public library gap. A pilot qualitative study was done to
investigate risk management and disaster recovery in
public libraries in South Australia. Seven personal
interviews were conducted with library managers at four
public libraries in South Australia. Although only four
public libraries were involved in the pilot study, these
libraries represent twelve branch libraries in three suburbs
in the Adelaide area. The qualitative results emerging from
the interviews were analysed using grounded theory
method, and are presented in this paper.
The decision-making processes in public libraries are not
the same throughout Australia. In metropolitan Adelaide,
public libraries are part of the council structure and are
situated within a department of the council; this influences
decision-making. The chief executive officer oversees the
entire council and each department has a director who is
responsible to the chief executive officer. The library
manager reports to a director and runs the day-to-day
library functions along with some customer service aspects
of the city, such as bill paying. A public library is seldom
able to make independent decisions on all aspects of
library management. The library manager would have the
ability to approve all expenses that are within their budget.
Anything that is outside of their approved budget must get
department head approval.
South Australian public libraries are part of a state-wide
public library network. All public libraries are members in
this very active system which includes a centralised library
management system. The system allows customers to
borrow and reserve materials with their local library card
across any public library in the state. The 'One Card'
Network was rolled out during the period 2012-2014 in the
state-wide public libraries (South Australian Public
Library Services, n.d.). This means that there is a relatively
high level of homogeneity amongst the management and
practices of public libraries in South Australia. It is
therefore reasonable to assume that the findings from
these four libraries are indicative of library practices
within many of the public libraries in the state.
Terminology
Before attempting to discuss the literature associated with
disaster recovery and risk management plans, the terms
used need to be defined. A disaster is defined as:
any incident which threatens human safety
and/or damages, or threatens to damage a
building, collection(s), item(s), equipment,
and systems (Eden and Matthews,
1996).
Hazard is an insurance term that means:
[a] condition or situation that creates or
increases chance of loss in an insured risk ...
physical hazard: physical environment,
which could increase or decrease the
probability or severity of a loss. It can be
managed through risk-improvement,
insurance policy terms, and premium
rates... (Business Dictionary, 2015
).
The definitions of risk management and disaster recovery
are the same throughout most industries and businesses.
Some organizations may have a targeted disaster plan for
the information technology function, but in a library or
information organization the tendency is to have an
overarching disaster plan that includes all aspects of the
library. A disaster plan is defined as:
systematic procedures that clearly detail
what needs to be done, how, when,and by
whom before and after the time an
anticipated disastrous event occurs. The
part dealing with the first and immediate
response to the event is called an emergency
plan (Business Dictionary, 2015).
Risk management is defined as:
the identification, analysis, assessment,
control, and avoidance, minimisation, or
elimination of unacceptable risks. An
organization may use risk assumption, risk
avoidance, risk retention, risk transfer, or
any other strategy (or combination of
strategies) in proper management of future
events (Business Dictionary, 2015
).
The terms disaster planning, disaster control planning,
disaster plan, and contingency planning are used
interchangeably in the literature (Muir and Shenton,
2002).
Literature review
Risk management
Library and information science literature includes articles
about disasters that have destroyed or damaged collections
and buildings. Few articles exist about how to compile a
risk management plan. Bulow (2010) outlines the method
of risk assessment that was carried out at The National
Archives in the United Kingdom. The method was
developed by Waller (2003, as cited in Bulow, 2010) and is
based on a mathematical formula. This is an excellent
model of risk assessment because it improves the
preservation of the archive collection (Bulow, 2010).
The assessment at The National Archives was
comprehensive and aimed to identify all levels of risk
within three categories: rare and catastrophic risk,
including earthquakes and floods; sporadic and severe
risk, including burst water mains; and ongoing and mild
risk, including high relative humidity. The archive
collection was divided according to material to make the
assessment as specific as possible. From this assessment, a
total of 190 risks to the archives were identified and rated
according to severity and frequency. The ten types of
deterioration included physical forces, water, fire, pests,
contaminants, temperature, relative humidity, light and
other forms of radiation, criminals, and custodial neglect.
The value of the collection was also assessed with regards
to importance; usefulness and quality in a survey carried
out by patrons and staff (Bulow, 2010).
Insurance of collections, which is another form of risk
management, is discussed in an article by McGinty (2008).
McGinty focuses on initiatives that libraries can take to
safeguard their collections from loss. He recommends that
organizations should assume that a disaster of some level
will occur, and should create a risk management plan to
deal with the consequences (McGinty, 2008). He states
that library insurance needs are often ignored because
there is a lack of understanding about the risks associated
with library operations, and, perhaps of more concern,
public libraries make the assumption that they are covered
under their governmental body's umbrella policies. Public
library directors and managers need to make sure that any
insurance covers not just the library building, but the
collection as well. McGinty recommends self-insuring
collections, if it is financially possible. Unlike Bulow
(2010), who suggests that staff and even patrons should
assess the value of the collection, McGinty recommends
that professional assistance should be sought to assess the
value and possible risks and to develop a plan for dealing
with these risks. He adds that fires are the least anticipated
risk and suggests methods of fire prevention (McGinty,
2008). Green and Teper (2006) also convey the
importance of fire protection. The lack of disaster planning
and smoke detectors is a theme across both articles.
Disaster plans
Disaster plans are more widely discussed in current library
literature than risk assessments. Wong and Green (2007)
explore the theoretical aspects of disaster planning in
public libraries including planning, prevention, response,
recovery, preparedness, and training. They emphasise the
importance of selecting a library disaster response team
and developing a disaster response plan. The plan involves
surveying the building and staff practices, identifying
potential disasters and their effects, developing library
floor plans, and prioritising the collection in terms of value
(Wong and Green, 2007). Fleischer and Heppner (2009, p.