At the 2015 IAML Australia conference a need was expressed for the next conference to discuss practical knowledge and offer guidance relating to disaster management for librarians. Unfortunately, some of our members have had first hand experience with disaster situations, while others have had none and wondered, what would I do? Based on this feedback, the 2016 conference in Brisbane will offer a special workshop designed specifically for our needs and delivered by State Library of Queensland’s Collection Preservation Manager, Grant Collins.
This workshop is strictly limited to 20 places so make sure you book your conference tickets early and secure your place! Tickets will be released in May.
The workshop: Basic Salvage Techniques of Library Collections
State Library of Queensland has the major responsibility of collecting, arranging, preserving and making accessible Queensland’s unique documentary heritage. This vast collection of often irreplaceable historic materials are held in the John Oxley Library and captures the history of Queensland across a diverse range of formats. One of the key strategies for the preservation of this material is contained in our Counter Disaster Plan. It has an emphasis on preventing damage from catastrophe while ensuring comprehensive preparedness should disaster strike and risk mitigations are unsuccessful.
This workshop will provide participants with the key components of effective counter disaster planning for libraries both large and small including prevention; preparedness and response. There will be a hands-on practical session in providing participants with the basic techniques for salvage of water damaged common media types found in libraries. The session will also explore some actual instances of disasters that affected the State Library and how the organisation responded to these events.
The presenter: Grant Collins is the Manager of Collection Preservation at the State Library of Queensland, Australia. His key roles include the leadership and management of the preservation programs of the State Library of Queensland and providing leadership to the public library network in preservation management of physical and digital library collections. This includes the development, implementation and review of State Library preservation policies and strategies along with responsibility for the coordination of the State Library’s counter disaster plan and its activation. He has responded to numerous significant disaster instances including the 2011 riverine floods and successfully coordinated the response for recovery of the library’s collections.
