Seats are still available, and you can register at http://nnlm.gov/sea/training/register.html.

Here is how the day is shaping up:

8:30-9   Welcome and University of Miami’s contributions to the Haiti relief effort  (Mary Moore, Chair of the Department of Health Informatics at the Miller School of Medicine,   University of Miami and Executive Director of the Medical Libraries and Biomedical   Communications)

9-9:20   NN/LM EP&R Activities (Dan Wilson, Coordinator for the NN/LM National Emergency Preparedness & Response Initiative)

9:20-9:50   Public Health Information Needs Before and During a Disaster (Antonio Gonzales, Public Health Preparedness Planner, Miami/Dade County Health Department)

9:50-10:10   BREAK

10:10-10:40   Miami/Dade Public Libraries and Emergency Response (Raymond Santiago, Library Director of the Miami/Dade Public Library System)

10:40-11:10   Bill & Linda Gates Gulf Coast Libraries Project (MaryEllin Santiago, Library Consultant)

11:10-12   Panel Discussion with morning speakers

12-1   Lunch (Special guest (tentative): Dr. Art Fournier, MD.  Author of  The Zombie Curse: A Doctor’s 25-year Journey Into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti  http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11541)

1-1:30   Disaster Information Management Research Center (Stacey Arnesen, Head of DIMRC, via Adobe Connect)

1:30-2   South Central Region of NN/LM Survey on Public Libraries and Disaster Response (Michelle Malizia, Associate Director of the NN/LM South Central Region)

2-3   Discussion and Planning

Registrations are now being taken for the upcoming NN/LM Hurricane Summit on Wednesday, February 8th, in Miami, Florida (click on the registration link below).  Seating is limited, so if you are in the Miami/Dade area and would like to attend, please register soon.  The event will be well documented and tweets will be displayed during the summit in the NEPRTimes section of the Toolkit.  A full report of the summit will be made available on the Toolkit in late February or early March.

When:              Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Where:            Louis Calder Memorial Library, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Purpose:        To provide a forum to discuss best practices and to develop new strategies for how libraries can prepare and respond to          natural disasters.

Moderator:     Dan Wilson, Coordinator, National Network of Libraries of Medicine Emergency Preparedness & Response Initiative

Registration:   http://nnlm.gov/sea/training/register.html 

Featured speakers:

Dr. Raymond Santiago, Library Director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System.  As Director, Dr. Santiago is responsible for a County department with over 600 employees, and 49 facilities serving over 2.5 million residents with a budget in excess of $50 million.  In recognition of his accomplishments, the Library Journal named Dr. Santiago the 2003 Librarian of the Year. In 2005 he was the recipient of the Public Library Association’s Charlie Robinson Award, honoring his efforts as a risk-taker and change agent. In October 2008 the Miami-Dade Public Library System was awarded the National Medal for Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Mary Moore, Chair of the Department of Health Informatics at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami and Executive Director of the Medical Libraries and Biomedical Communications.  Mary has been Director, Louis Calder Memorial Library, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  She became involved in community engagement 25 years ago when she was asked to provide  curriculum development and program evaluation for a major DHHS grant that brought telemedicine services to isolated rural communities on the Texas-Mexico border.  Later she realized the value of library services in disasters. During Hurricane Rita she received a phone call at home from a physician who asked her to look up a treatment protocol.  That began her efforts in library participation in disaster preparedness and recovery.

Michelle Malizia, Associate Director of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region (NN/LM SCR) located in Houston.  The NN/LM SCR, under contract with the National Library of Medicine, has a long-standing history of providing assistance to libraries after a disaster. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, they provided funding to libraries throughout Louisiana and Southeast Texas to help them recover after the disaster.  Michelle will report on a 2010 NN/LM SCR conducted assessment project of the needs of Gulf Coast libraries after a hurricane.

MaryEllin Santiago, Library Consultant. Ms. Santiago was Project Manager of the Gulf Coast Libraries Project, (funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) that helped rebuild 21 public libraries lost in the storms of 2005.  She is currently working with cities across the United States to build and develop “Engaged Communities” that understand and value the public library as a key community asset.

Dan Wilson, Coordinator, NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Initiative.  Dan oversees the maintenance of the national emergency preparedness and response plan, works with regional medical library liaisons and state coordinators on preparedness and response issues, provides training in service continuity, and facilitates mutual aid agreement with libraries.  He works at the University of Virginia’s Claude Moore Health Sciences Library where he is the Associate Director for Collections & Library Services.

Antonio Gonzalez, Public Health Preparedness Planner, Department of Public Health. Miami Dade County Health Department.

For more information, contact:

Dan Wilson

Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

University of Virginia

danwilson@virginia.edu

(434) 924-0192

Here’s NOAA’s time-lapse video of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. Although an active season, only two storms, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, had a direct impact on the mainland United States, causing flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Puerto Rico was spared Lee, but was impacted by Irene and Tropical Storm Emily.

Click on the URL below to see an excellent report in American Libraries about the effect of Hurricane Irene on East Coast libraries.

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/08312011/east-coast-libraries-endure-hurricane-irene

Any library that suffered water damage from Hurricane Irene will likely be looking for disaster-related help.  The Mid-Atlantic Resource Guide for Disaster Preparedness, published in 2009, contains a wealth of resources.  For those of you not in the Mid-Atlantic region, there are a number of national agencies that you will  find useful for your disaster plan.  Thanks to the Conservation Center for the Arts and Historical Artifacts for compiling this very useful document.

Click on the following URL for a pdf of the document: http://ccaha.punkave.net/uploads/media_items/emergency-resource-guide-2009.original.pdf

Most libraries in the path of Irene closed for the weekend or reduced their hours.  Some of these libraries remained closed on Monday due to cleanup efforts or power outages.  Today, libraries seem to be operating under normal schedules except in areas that were hardest hit, such as eastern North Carolina, or areas that are experiencing power outages or flooding.  The Vermont Library Association is directing member libraries to the Disaster Assistance Hotline of the New England Document Conservation Center (978-470-1010).

Click here for a detailed report from LibraryJournal.com:  http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/891818-264/updated_most_vermont_libraries_escaped.html.csp

Providing information about how libraries can get help in an emergency or disaster is a primary component of the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan.  Following are places you can call in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, or New England for getting help with maintaining services (NN/LM) or 24/7 advice on collection recovery.

NN/LM (National Network of Libraries of Medicine):   (800) DEV-ROKS  or  1-800-338-7657  (business hours):DOCLINE, coordination of emergency response among members, resource sharing in emergency, possible funding for replacement equipment.

Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC):      (978) 470-1010       (24/7): Territory: northeastern states, but will provide telephone advice to anyone about response to and recovery from a disaster that impacts library collections.

Lyrasis:    (800) 999-8558    (24/7): Territory: southeastern/northeastern/mid-Atlantic states–advice about saving collections, health and safety measures in an emergency, referrals to commercial salvage companies, etc.  Onsite assistance available through volunteer network.