Safety
From WebjunctionWiki
Beaty, Karen (2005). "How Safe are Rural Libraries?" Rural Libraries 25(1), 57-72.
Public libraries can be targets of crime because they are considered public buildings and by being so public access is encouraged. This makes the library a potential place for crime because it is open on nights and weekends and most rural libraries have a small staff with little or no training on security. These rural libraries also deal with the problems of their urban counterparts such as vandalism, dealing with disturbed people and children left on their own. This article gives ways of dealing with these problems from putting policies and procedures into writing and training staff on safety issues to posting rules of behavior where they are visible to all library patrons. This article also gives references for further reading.--Recommended by Robin Helenthal-- 17:44, 26 March 2006 (CST)
Kahn, Miriam. Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries. Chicago: American Library Association, 2002.
This book gives explanations on how to prepare and recover from all types of disasters that can happen in or to libraries. These include natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes and floods but also fires, power outages, pipe breakages and mold. It gives up-to-date information on prevention equipment and materials and includes reproducible checklists and and forms and also a list of resources for further information. This would be valuable tool for any rural library to help write up a disaster plan and also be a good reference in case a disaster were to strike. Recommeded by Robin Helenthal-- 21:43, 25 April 2006 (CDT)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved March 12, 2006 from http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
NOAA's comprehensive web site provides an interactive map to get up-to-date weather watches, warnings and forecasts. River stages, satellite and radar imaging are readily available to the information seeker. NOAA is the source to go to for climate/weather related information. Rural patrons can monitor weather conditions for safety concerns, plan planting and harvesting, and avoid flooded areas by using this source, just for starters. --Recommended by Sharon A. Sample. Internet Resource. 22:12, 13 March 2006 (CST)
Safe Habor. Retrieved March 20, 2006 from http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/safeharbor/.
Developed by the Alliance Library System under an LSTA grant, this online manual gives the library an intensely practical "how to" for dealing with difficult and potentially dangerous patron situations. The main page gives the user the option of ordering a print copy or to simply printing the desired sections of the manual directly from the website. Other features of this site include a search feature. --Recommended by Jill Gray -- 15:57, 20 March 2006 (CST)
State Library of Ohio (2002) Disaster Preparedness Manual. Retrieved from http://winslo.state.oh.us/services/LPD/disaster_frnt.html
This online manual was designed for small public libraries and is easy to use. It focuses on the two most likely scenarios for small Midwestern libraries, namely fire and floods. This manual would make the formation and updating of a disaster plan fairly straightforward. Recommended by Jill Gray -- 12:42, 25 April 2006 (CDT)
