Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries
Improving Florida Public Library Utilization in Community Hurricane Response
August 12, 2013
NPR Highlights the Importance of Libraries in Hurricane Season
The August 12, 2013 NPR Morning Edition reported the key role the New York Public Libraries played before, during and after Hurricane Sandy. Librarians helped mend their communities by providing internet access, assisting patrons with FEMA applications, and providing essentials such as clothing and running water.
June 12, 2013
Laura I. Spears Presents Hurricane Preparedness Workshop
Laura I. Spears, Research Coordinator of the Information Use Management & Policy Institute (Information Institute) presented a Hurricane Preparedness Workshop at the Mid-County Regional Library in Port Charlotte, Florida on June 11, 2013. The three-hour workshop, entitled “Hurricane Preparedness: The Importance of Planning” met the practical needs of library leaders by presenting effective strategies for hurricane preparedness, reviewed key disaster-preparedness resources, and led the attendees through development of a disaster plan using the Information Institute’s Hurricane Portal.
For further information on this workshop or other available outreach programs offered by the Information Institute, please contact Charles R. McClure cmclure@lis.fsu.edu at the Information Institute, or visit hurricanes.ii.fsu.edu.
June 1, 2013
Hurricane Season 2013 Begins - Are You Ready?
Today, June 1st, marks the start of the 2013 hurricane season. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it's going to be an above normal season. NOAA predicts between 3 to 6 major (categories 3, 4, and 5) hurricanes.
With the prediction of between 13-20 named storms this season, it is important for libraries to be prepared. Browse this UPDATED Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal for helpful information.
For the full report, read: NOAA hurricane outlook indicates an above-normal Atlantic season
June 1, 2012
Hurricane Season 2012 Begins - Are You Ready?
Today, June 1st, marks the start of the 2012 hurricane season. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it's going to be a normal season. NOAA predicts between 1 to 3 major (categories 3, 4, and 5) hurricanes.
With the prediction of between 9-15 named storms this season, it is important for libraries to be prepared. Browse this UPDATED Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal for helpful information.
For the full report, read: NOAA hurricane outlook indicates an above-normal Atlantic season
June 6, 2011
Charles R. McClure Named Hurricane Expert for Third Year
Charles R. McClure, director of the Information Use Management & Policy Institute (Information Institute) and Francis Eppes Professor at the Florida State University College of Communication & Information, School of Library & Information Studies has been named an expert on hurricane preparedness, response, and recovery for the third consecutive year. The announcement was made by Florida State University as an effort to formally identify leading national experts in the study of hurricanes and their impact on people and property.
This announcement comes in response to work Dr. McClure and the Information Institute completed on a project supported by a $311,440 grant awarded by the Florida Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center at Florida State University's College of Business from 2008-2010. The project, entitled Hurricane Preparedness and Response for Florida Public Libraries, assisted public libraries and local communities in planning for and responding to hurricanes, and revealed the critical support roles of libraries during disaster response and recovery. As of January 2011, FEMA now recognizes public libraries as an "essential service."
This announcement was made on May 19: Hurricane Experts at Florida State University. For further information on this project, please contact Charles R. McClure cmclure@lis.fsu.edu at the Information Institute, or visit hurricanes.ii.fsu.edu.
June 1, 2011
Hurricane Season 2011 Begins - Are You Ready?
Today, June 1st, marks the start of the 2011 hurricane season. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it's going to be an above normal season. NOAA predicts between 3 to 6 major (categories 3, 4, and 5) hurricanes.
With the prediction of between 12-18 named storms this season, it is important for libraries to be prepared. Browse this UPDATED Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal for helpful information.
For the full report, read: NOAA hurricane outlook indicates an above-normal Atlantic season
August 18, 2010
Updated Hurricane Web Training Video
The Information Institute has updated a short instructional video about its Hurricane Preparedness and Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal that demonstrates its most useful features, including a quick how to session on accessing a broad range of hurricane-related information. The updated video discusses the new service role, “Get to Know Your Local EOC,” as well as the other key features of the hurricane web portal. These training videos will help users exploit all the various resources, information, and services that are available from the website.
This video is available at our web portal or from The Information Institute Youtube Channel.
August 11, 2010
Information Institute Research Coordinator Presents on Public Library – Emergency Management Agency Partnerships at OCLC’s WebJunction, August 3, 2010
The Information Use Management & Policy Institute’s (Information Institute) Research Coordinator, Lauren H. Mandel, presented an online webinar to 60 attendees on August 3, 2010 through OCLC’s WebJunction. The webinar provided a brief introduction to the Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal, an overview of the eight service roles identified on the portal, an introduction to the new Get To Know Your EOC service role, and a discussion on the importance of partnering with emergency management.
Webinar attendees interacted with the presenter through real-time chats, with discussion focusing on success stories from participants’ libraries on working with local emergency managers and ways to improve these cooperative relationships.
Lauren Mandel noted that with the oncoming hurricane season it is essential for public librarians to be as prepared as possible to assist local communities and partner with their local emergency management offices. Furthermore, the new instructional module on working with your local EOC is an excellent strategy to coordinate services and assist your community. Details on how this can be done are on the Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal.
View the archived webinar, slides, chats and related links.
July 8, 2010
New Hurricane Flyer Now Available!
Now that hurricane season is here again, allow us to reintroduce a few of the products and services that have been developed for public libraries by the Information Use Management & Policy Institute (Information Institute) at Florida State University. These services were developed from a project designed to help public libraries to better assist their communities during hurricane disasters.
WEB PORTAL: The Information Institute’s web portal captures many best practices to help you better prepare for hurricane season. This web portal also includes access to a comprehensive collection of hurricane information resources. Please visit the homepage of the web portal located at:
HURRICANE FLYER: A new color flyer has been provided to all Florida public libraries for display and is available from the homepage of the web portal or click on the image below for a downloadable version of the flyer.
NEW SERVICE ROLE WITH INFORMATIONAL VIDEOS: We have also created a series of information videos about a new service role – Get to Know Your Local EOC that explains how a public library can develop a working relationship with the local emergency operations center, and why this relationship is beneficial to the library and the EOC. The new service role and those videos are available at our web portal or from YouTube at:
- From web portal: Get to Know Your Local EOC
- From YouTube: Information Institute Channel
June 3, 2010
Gulf Oil Spill Dangers Increase with Start of Hurricane Season 2010
With the start of what is predicted to be an active hurricane season, the dangers of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill move farther inland. According to a New York Times article, researchers are concerned about the potential for hurricane force winds compounding the existing environmental disaster in the Gulf.
- New York Times article: Hurricane Season Raises New Fears
If a hurricane’s path collides with the spill, the winds and storm surges could push the oil on the Gulf’s surface over a wider area of the Gulf, and even farther inland. This “unprecedented environmental catastrophe” possibly could even intensify the storm’s effects by heating the water. There are hopes that the oil could weaken the storm but this has yet to be proven.
For further information on the Gulf Coast oil spill, please see The White House’s web page dedicated to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill. Keep checking the Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal for more information regarding the 2010 Hurricane season.
June 1, 2010
Hurricane Season 2010 Begins – And NOAA Predicts It Will Be a Busy Season
Today, June 1st, is the start of the 2010 hurricane season and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it’s going to be an ‘active to extremely active’ season.
With the prediction of 14 to 23 named storms this season, it is important for public libraries to be prepared. Visit the Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries web portal for helpful information.
April 17, 2010
McClure Makes Presentation at Texas Library Association
Charles R. McClure, Francis Eppes Professor and Director of the Information Institute, spoke at the Texas Library Association April 17, 2010 in San Antonio. The presentation offered a tutorial on how to best use the website at:
The presentation also discussed the applicability of the website's content for hurricane preparedness and response in the state of Texas and other gulf coast states. There was considerable interest in expanding the coverage of the website to have content specific to other gulf coast states. A number of the participants had been in recent hurricanes that have struck Texas and the gulf coast and offered suggestions and ideas for additional content and sources for the website.
February 3, 2010
Changes Being Made to Improve Hurricane Website
The Information Institute has completed an evaluation which involved a review of the use and usefulness of the web portal by reference librarians from around the state. As a result of their suggestions, there will be a number of updates and changes made to the site.
In addition to changes and updates, we will be adding a new module on "Getting to know your local Emergency Operations Center," including information about how to find local funding for public library hurricane preparedness. Anyone with additional ideas for improving this website should contact Charles McClure at cmcclure@fsu.edu.
October 21, 2009
Webinar: Hurricane Preparedness and Response
Join guest presenter Lauren Mandel, research coordinator for a new project that identifies and collects key service roles, best practices, tools and resource to make better use of the public libraries for hurricane and disaster preparation and recovery. The Florida-based project helps libraries reprioritize disaster and recovery efforts to address the needs of the broader community through partnerships with fellow responders and to become a safe haven, a recovery center, information hub and evacuee resource. Come learn how this project can inform your library's disaster preparedness plan and how your library can play an important role in community preparedness and recovery.
June 29, 2009
YouTube Hurricane Web Training Video
The Information Institute has created a short instructional video about the hurricane web portal that demonstrates its most useful features, including a quick how to session on accessing a broad range of hurricane-related information. This video is available at our web portal or from The Information Institute Youtube Channel.
As a user of this web portal, Helen Moeller, Director of the Leon County Public Library stated:
“After disasters people flock to their public libraries for information, computers, a safe place to be with other people, to relax, to read and to borrow materials. Your website will provide much needed information in a standard framework that is not readily available elsewhere. Great job!”
Since the hurricane web portal also provides important information for the general public as well as to professional librarians, we encourage all public librarians to display the link on their library website home page.
May 4, 2009
Extension Grant Awarded to the Public Libraries in Hurricane Preparedness and Response Project
- The Information Use Management & Policy Institute was awarded an extension to its grant from the Florida Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center at Florida State University’s College of Business to continue work on the Public Libraries in Hurricane Preparedness and Response Project. This extension brings the total grant value to $358,538 and extends the effort through August 6, 2010. Read more...
February 9, 2009
Public Libraries and Hurricane Response:
Eppes Lecture/Panel Discussion February 20, 2009
The Eppes Lecture/Panel Discussion occurred on February 20th, 2009 between 12:30PM – 2:30PM, at Louis Shores Building Auditorium 006
| Rebecca Hamilton | Assistant Secretary of the Office of the State Library/ State Librarian of Louisiana. Public Librarians’ Response To Hurricanes (PDF) |
|---|---|
| Rebecca Mitchell | Director, Alabama Public Library Service |
| Judith Ring | Director, Division of Library and Information Services |
| Peggy Rudd | Director and Librarian, Texas State Library and Archives Commission |
| MaryEllin Santiago | Manager, Southeastern Library Network’s (SOLINET) Gulf Coast Libraries Project |
| Sharman B. Smith | Executive Director, Mississippi Library Commission |
December 18, 2008
YouTube Video!
- Watch the Hurricane Project video on YouTube!
September 8, 2008
Hurricane Preparedness and Response by Utilizing Florida Public Libraries
- The Information Use Management & Policy Institute directed by Charles R. McClure, PhD, Francis Eppes Professor at the College of Information, Florida State University (FSU) has been awarded a $218,000 grant to assist public libraries and local communities better plan for and respond to hurricanes. Read more...
September 18, 2008
FSU Headlines Radio - Hurricane Project
- Dr. Charles R. McClure, Director of the Information Institute, was interviewed by WFSU radio to discuss the Institute’s most recent grant effort: “Public Library Hurricane Preparedness and Response.” The interview noted the new and increasingly important role that Florida public libraries provide in serving community needs during times of disaster. Additional information on this important project is available, read more...
January 14, 2009
Hurricane Preparedness Blogs!
Check It Out! The blog is provided by Lyrasis (formerly SOLINET). Voice your opinion, POST a comment on hurricane preparedness or see important material: