Emergency Help

Is your library in an emergency? Follow these steps, or contact us right away.

1. Consult your disaster plan.
2. Contact the library's insurance agent.
3. Ensure that you have been given permission to access the building by the fire and/or police department(s) for safety reasons [if applicable].
4. Assess the extent of the damage with the insurance agent unless you are given permission to proceed without the agent. If so, document all actions taken.
5. Determine what action should be taken to recover the affected materials and what supplies are needed.
6. Make a decision as to whether you feel you can handle the situation alone or whether you need outside assistance.
7. If the amount of affected materials is not large, and the staff feels able to handle the salvage themselves, contact the nearest site listed below for recovery supplies (Rescubes and ReactPaks).
8. Using the supplies, institutional staff should proceed according to the procedures outlined in their disaster preparedness plan, if there is one. Otherwise, seek advice from the designated Board staff.
9. Contact the MBLC for telephone and/or on-site assistance.
10. If MBLC assistance is not available, call the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) at 855-245-8303 (24 hours a day) for telephone and/or on-site assistance.

If the amount of damaged materials is substantial and beyond the capabilities of the library's staff, designated MBLC or NEDCC staff can authorize a call to the contracted recovery vendor for packing, freezing, and drying the materials.

Storage Sites for Recovery Supplies