Welcome to The Ounce, an occasional missive for Harvard Library colleagues from Preventive Programs in HL Preservation Services. Welcome also to hurricane season, which has been a thing since at least 1954, when a large elm was uprooted by Hurricane Carol in the Radcliffe Quadrangle.
It’s that time of year again. The Atlantic hurricane season officially started on June 1st and will continue through November 30th. While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting a “near-normal” Atlantic hurricane season for 2023, that does not mean we should not prepare!
Please make sure that you have done all that you can to help protect Harvard's library collections:
- Review the Harvard Library Hurricane Preparedness recommendations.
- Connect with the facilities manager about mitigation and preparation efforts to confirm the building is ready for a storm.
- Update the collections emergency plan; here is an MS Word template you can use to help create a plan.
- Inventory the collections emergency supplies and restock as needed; list of recommended supplies.
Need help with planning or with locating collections emergency resources? Contact Priscilla Anderson, priscilla_anderson@harvard.edu, (617) 496-4745) or Lauren Telepak, ltelepak@fas.harvard.edu, (617-384-6749), co-chairs of the Library Collections Emergency Team.
Finally, should Harvard collections be damaged by a storm, contact your local support services and administration, then call the Library Collections Emergency Team at (617) 240-2500.
