CDNLAO Newsletter
No. 72, November 2011
Libraries in the eastern part of Japan were damaged by a magnitude 9 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011. Especially in the Tohoku (north-east) region of Japan, some libraries suffered human casualties and heavy damage to materials and buildings.
The National Diet Library (NDL) held a conference with directors of prefectural and major city libraries on June 16 focused on response to earthquake disaster and support activities for affected areas. The NDL also hosted a debriefing session "Supporting Reconstruction in Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake" (http://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/event/events/1191804_1368.html) (in Japanese) on July 13. At the conference and the session, prefectural libraries in the Tohoku region reported the wide damage suffered in each place. Support organizations (Japan Library Association, etc.) also outlined their activities for the affected libraries and library services for afflicted people.
In this article, we mainly describe the damage to public libraries in three prefectures in the Tohoku region reported in the conference and the session, and our assistance for the reconstruction.
Libraries affected by the earthquake
Libraries in Iwate prefecture
The Iwate prefectural library sustained damage such as fallen materials and system failure caused by the earthquake, and closed until March 31. Three municipal libraries (Rikuzentakata city library, Otsuchi town library and Noda village library) in a maritime area were devastated by the tsunami. Because the librarians in the devastated area had to engage in livelihood support as administrative officers, they could not respond to offers of various kinds of library support right after the earthquake.The investigation of the damage to public libraries revealed that there is a great demand for restoration and preservation of damaged materials. Materials held by some libraries were soaked by seawater from the tsunami or by antifreeze liquid that leaked from air conditioning machines. Fifty of fifty-six public libraries in the prefecture were opened as of June 27.
Tsunami damage to Noda village library (May 2011)
Libraries in Miyagi prefecture
The Miyagi prefectural library had about one million materials fallen off the shelves and suffered structural damage to the building caused by the earthquake, and was closed until May 12. The main constructional damage was broken glass, toppled stacks, breakdown of automatic stacks, and destruction of outside facilities from ground subsidence. Two municipal libraries in the maritime area (Minami-sanriku town library and Onagawa lifetime study center library) were completely destroyed by the tsunami. Many libraries in the prefecture were damaged by the earthquake but almost all the libraries had reopened by June. However, many libraries cannot provide all the services they did before the earthquake: now they provide only reader service or service using temporary counters.
Libraries in Fukushima prefecture
The Fukushima prefectural library had materials fallen off the shelves and sustained heavy damage to the building from the earthquake, including a broken ceiling, fallen ducts and broken glass. It was partially opened from July 15. Fukushima prefecture suffered the release of radioactive substances caused by the reactor meltdown accident of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. As the area in a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear power plant was designated for an evacuation, some libraries cannot even be checked for damage.
Tokyo Main Library of the NDL
About 1.8 million books scattered in the stacks and services of reading, photoduplication and interlibrary loan were suspended by the earthquake on March 11. They have been restored to their former state, and all of books have been available from April 25. Because of this recovery work, the Tokyo Main Library shortened its opening hours from March 15 to 31.
The stacks of the Tokyo Main Library of the NDL after the earthquake (March 2011)
NDL’s reconstruction assistance for the afflicted libraries
The NDL set up a task force for recovery from the damage by the Great East Japan Earthquake and organized a support group within it for assisting the reconstruction of libraries in the disaster-afflicted areas.
The NDL has been engaged in reconstruction assistance such as 1) launching a portal site of earthquake and reconstruction information, 2) copying and reference services, 3) restoration and preservation, 4) support services for children.
1) Launching a portal site of earthquake and reconstruction information
On April 11, the NDL launched a portal site “Reconstruction Assistance after the Great East Japan Earthquake” (http://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/news/support.html) (in Japanese). It provides NDL’s publications in PDF format, pathfinders and useful links related to seismic disaster and nuclear power plants.
2) Copying and reference services
From April 11, the NDL has provided duplicates of the Library's materials in response to requests from institutions and individuals engaged in reconstruction assistance in the disaster-stricken area by e-mail or facsimile at no charge. Twenty-nine municipalities and medical agencies, etc. applied for this service by August 18.
3) Restoration and preservation
At the instance of libraries in the disaster-stricken area, the NDL dispatched staff of the Preservation Division several times from May. They directed and provided advice on restoration and preservation work. They also undertook training for repairing materials and rescuing water-damaged materials. From September 13 to 14, lecture meetings featuring a specialist of the Library of Congress on rescuing materials took place at the Tokyo Main Library and a library in the disaster-stricken area.
Training on repairing materials by dispatched staff of the NDL
4) Support services for children
The International Library of Children’s Literature of the NDL (ILCL) provides a packaged interlibrary loan service of a set of about 40-50 books useful for global understanding to libraries in elementary and junior high schools. Since this April, ILCL has been offering a free shipping loan service limited to school libraries in disaster-afflicted area. Thirty-nine school libraries have borrowed the book sets during the first term (from April to July).
A form of reconstruction assistance other than the examples given above is the Web Archiving Project. After the earthquake, we enhanced the frequency of archiving websites of municipalities in the disaster-stricken area and national institutions.
The NDL will continue to assist the reconstruction of the libraries in the disaster-stricken area by cooperating with related organizations according to their needs.
Copyright (C) 2011 National Diet Library
