National Diet Library Newsletter
No. 181, February 2012
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22nd forum on preservation
“Disaster preparedness in China, Korea, Australia and Japan:
reports from National Libraries”
On December 1, 2011, the NDL held the 22nd forum on preservation under the theme of “Disaster preparedness in China, Korea, Australia and Japan: reports from National Libraries.” This year’s forum was held against the background of frequent occurrences of disaster inside and outside Japan these years. Libraries from four countries, China, Korea, Australia and Japan, which acts as IFLA/PAC (Preservation and Conservation) Regional Centre in Asia and Oceania, and also a library from the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, participated in the forum and reported their experience of disaster and prevention.
The participants and outlines of their reports are as follows:
Report 1: “Documents conservation, disaster prevention and rescue in China”
Ms. Li Cuiwei (Deputy Director, Office of China National Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books, National Library of China)
The report started by outlining the Ancient Books Preservation Project (started in 2007), which conducts a general survey all over the country, stack construction, preservation environment management and training for professionals to enhance the protection of ancient books. Second, the Emergency Plan of the National Library of China was mentioned. This plan defines prevention and countermeasures against earthquakes, fire disasters, and water leaks and others. Lastly, Ms. Li reported on rescue work conducted by the cooperative network forward by the National Library of China, related institutions and restoration specialists when the Sichun earthquake occurred in 2008.
Report 2: “Disaster prevention measures and cooperative activities of the National Library of Korea”
Mr. Lee Kwi-Bok (Conservator, Korea Research Institute for Library and Information, National Library of Korea)
Mr. Lee reported on the stack environment and fire extinguishing systems, implementation status of disaster prevention measures, and affected cases and cooperation activities inside and outside Korea of the three facilities of the National Library of Korea: the Main building (constructed in 1988), Deposit Building (2000) and the National Digital Library Building (2009). Next, it was reported that a manual for on-site emergency response measures was made in 2010 and a team for rare book protection was set up. For emergency situations, a system to carry the National Library of Korea’s rare books to the National Museum has also been prepared. And as part of its cooperative preservation activities, the Library provides outsourced storage service by using vacant space in the stacks of the National Digital Library.
Report3: “Disaster preparedness at the National Library of Australia”
Ms. Jennifer Lloyd (Manager, Preservation Services, National Library of Australia)
It was reported that the National Library of Australia created a Collection Disaster Plan in 1986. This plan clarifies the role and responsibilities of staff in charge, and contains information on disaster training strategies, emergency supply inventories and maintenance lists. In Canberra, there is a cooperation network called Disasters ACT (DisACT). DisACT is a network consisting of institutions and individuals who want to learn about protecting their collections from disaster and have meetings and training sessions. As an IFLA/PAC centre, the Library tries to share information on disaster preparedness inside and outside Australia.
Special report: “Aiming to recover from the Earthquake: afflicted libraries in Iwate and assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction”
Ms. Kumiko Sakai (Director, Iwate Prefectural Library)
Ms. Sakai reported that the disaster situations of libraries differ even within Iwate Prefecture, so the support measures also differ and the kind of help needed changes as time goes by. As a prefectural library, the Iwate Prefectural Library is aiming to rescue affected local materials and to regenerate affected libraries which are to be the basis of information. For this target, continuing cooperation between affected libraries, the prefectural library, governmental institutions and the National Diet Library is necessary.
Report 4: “National Diet Library disaster preparedness and support to the areas stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake”
Ms. Noriko Nakamura (Library Counsellor, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department, National Diet Library)
Development of “The NDL Principles to Protect Materials from Disaster,” and preparation of various manuals were reported. For supporting the affected areas, the NDL provided assistance through library cooperation networks, participated in the “Cultural Property Rescue Programme” of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, held an open lecture inviting staff of the Library of Congress, and also held several events for information sharing.
The question and answer session after these reports dealt with China’s disaster preparedness standards in the stacks and media conversion in China’s Ancient Books Preservation Project, work contents of designated managers of libraries at the time of disaster, the situation of affected school libraries in Iwate Prefecture, and measures for treating soaked acid paper and so on.
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