CDNLAO Newsletter
No. 72, November 2011
The Great Sichuan Earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale (also referred to as the Wenchuan Earthquake) occurred on May 12, 2008 in the Sichuan province of China. This was a most devastating and widespread earthquake which affected 40 million people. The number of casualties and property damage is enormous: 69,227 people dead, 374,643 injured, 17,923 missing; direct economic loss was 845.1 billion yuan (approximately 132.7 billion USD at the average rate of October 2011). 90 percent of the damage caused by the earthquake occurred in Sichuan province. Almost every library in the disaster-afflicted areas was unable to escape the influence and received more or less damage.
Disaster situations of libraries
Four county public libraries and 242 town culture centers, some of which contained a library, were fully destroyed. Many other libraries faced the risk of collapse or suffered some damage. Direct economic loss of libraries in the areas climbed to 436 million yuan (approximately 68.4 million USD at the average rate of October 2011). There were so many local and ethnic collections in the damaged materials that it is hard to make good the irreparable loss.
Mianzhu City Library after the earthquake
Rescue activities and service restoration of libraries
1. Disaster relief activities
One hour after the earthquake, the Sichuan Provincial Library (SPL) set up a task force of earthquake rescue activities. Two hours after the earthquake, the SPL and the Sichuan Society for Library Science (SSLS) dispatched their staff to Dujiangyan City, one of the worst-hit areas, for damage investigation. Six hours after the earthquake, the SPL and the secretariat of the SSLS had made contact with almost all the libraries in the hardest-hit areas. The day after the earthquake, the SPL started to compile information on earthquake rescue, and distributed 400 thousand copies to the public five days after the earthquake. “Tent libraries” were set up one after another and reader service was provided to the people in the afflicted areas. Six days after the earthquake, the first relief supplies sent by the SPL reached librarians in the severely damaged areas.
2. Service restoration in disaster-affected libraries
As the roads and bridges in the disaster-stricken areas were severely damaged and the traffic was blocked after the earthquake, it was difficult to convey information and communicate with each other. The residents in the disaster-afflicted areas faced difficulty in basic livings and even the emergency relief supplies were not enough. Under these difficult conditions, local librarians got to work and with a great effort rapidly recovered their library services, as well as participating in the disaster-relief activities. Temporary reading rooms using tents or prefabricated buildings were prepared and libraries were also installed in evacuation centers. Service points set up by the libraries in the disaster-stricken areas reached 35 within a month after the earthquake.
Disaster recovery services of library
3. Mutual rescue in the library community
After the Great Sichuan Earthquake, the National Library of China (NLC) and the Library Society of China (LSC) promptly got in touch with the SSLS, and gathered information on the disaster situation of the libraries in Sichuan Province. Under the NLC’s initiative and at the LSC’s call, various kinds of support activities by libraries around the country were continually done, including donations of money and books, and staff training programs for libraries in the disaster-afflicted areas.
A support group was launched by library-related organizations in Sichuan Province and it engaged in relief activities and sent food, medicine and tents etc. several times to the librarians in more than a dozen counties designated as the worst-hit areas. There was also a lot of support for the libraries in the disaster-stricken areas from library communities overseas, Hong-Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Library reconstruction
1. Post-earthquake reconstruction plan
Sichuan earthquake recovery and reconstruction were given a high priority both nationally and locally. On June 8, 2008, the State Council promulgated “Regulations on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction” and the Ministry of Culture subsequently issued “Guidelines on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Plan for Community Cultural Facilities.” This means that recovery process in the afflicted areas transitioned from relief to reconstruction. In addition to these two regulations, several plans were formulated and implemented by the Sichuan Provincial Government and others.
2. NLC’s active participation in reconstruction work
The NLC actively participated in a variety of relief and recovery work and played an extremely important role.
In the relief phase, the NLC distributed a proposal calling for support from the Chinese library community in cooperation with the LSC, which brought in monetary and book donations, relief goods supply and volunteer workers from libraries all over the country.
At the stage of formulating earthquake reconstruction plans, the NLC published a series of reports on Premier Wen Jiabao’s instructions, which covered the damage situation and recovery case studies at home and abroad, and provided them to executives of the State Council, committees involved in disaster reconstruction, and the three afflicted provincial governments.
The NLC prepared and delivered 350,000 books to the damaged regions in a short time, based on research results showing books and journals of urgent need in such areas. Furthermore, with the joint effort of all stakeholders, it supported library recovery by providing training of personnel. In May 2009, the signing ceremony of the Sichuan Branch of National Digital Library of China (NDLC) was held in the SPL. With the NLC providing digital information resources of the NDLC with Sichuan province through this branch library, libraries located in Sichuan province can enjoy many services including relayed academic cultural lectures organized by the NLC and its enormous resources. In March 2010, the NLC also distributed digital resources to county-level libraries in the disaster areas.
In May 2011, marking the 3rd anniversary of the Great Sichuan Earthquake, the NLC delivered digital resources, donated books, organized cultural lectures and exhibitions, held trainings for librarians, etc. for afflicted people under the “National Digital Library Promotion Program,” with the aim of enhancing the public services in those areas.
3. Post-disaster reconstruction of libraries in Sichuan Province
By the end of April 2011, almost 95 percent of the 41,130 national reconstruction projects for the Great Sichuan Earthquake had been completed; and already accomplished investment, amounting to 885.1 billion yuan, (approximately 138.9 billion USD at the average rate of October 2011) accounts for 95 percent of the planned total investment.
Reconstruction of the SPL has been undertaken successfully according to the post-earthquake reconstruction plan. Many libraries have already been constructed and all the projects will have been accomplished by the end of September 2011.
Copyright (C) 2011 National Library of China
