FW: [syscon-tx] FW: [ALA-WO:303] Make Sure You and Your Community ArePrepared!

[Laurie Mahaffey]

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wendy Clark Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 1:34 PM To: Syscon-Tx (E-mail) Subject: [syscon-tx] FW: [ALA-WO:303] Make Sure You and Your Community ArePrepared!   FYI -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of ALAWASH E-MAIL Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 12:56 PM To: ALA Washington Office Newsline Subject: [ALA-WO:303] Make Sure You and Your Community Are Prepared! If you are unable to view this newsletter, please cut and paste this URL into your web browser: http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washnews/news.htm. American Library Association Washington Office Newsline ALAWON Volume 15, Number 087 August 25, 2006     Make Sure You and Your Community Are Prepared! September is National Preparedness Month, a nationwide effort to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools. The ALA Washington Office urges libraries -- as community leaders -- to take charge in making sure their communities are prepared in the event of an emergency or disaster. The latest surveys show that 83% of Americans are unprepared to help themselves in a disaster, while the National Heritage Health Index discovered that 70% of libraries did not have a disaster plan. Please use this time to prepare your institution for the types of disasters which might befall you and help your communities prepare as well. In the spirit of National Preparedness Month, the ALA Washington Office has put together a list of resources at its Disaster Preparedness webpage to help you make sure you're prepared, including: dPlan: The Online Disaster Planning Tool: dPlan is a free online tool that will help you simplify the process of writing a disaster plan. Enter information about your institution using the comprehensive fill-in-the-blank template. This template will guide you through the steps necessary for effective disaster planning. Once completed, dPlan generates a printed disaster plan specific to your institution. The resulting plan contains contact information for staff and key personnel, preventive maintenance checklists, salvage techniques, and much more. dPlan can be updated continuously to reflect the changes that occur at your institution. ·         The Disaster Mitigation Planning Assistance Website: The site allows you to view disaster plans submitted by other libraries and archives as a model for developing your own plan. Resources are available in a database that can be searched geographically, by service, expert or supply. You can download your results into an Excel file to include in your own disaster plan. You are also invited to add resources to the database. Please visit the ALA Washington Office's Disaster Preparedness webpage for more information and be sure to visit www.ready.gov. Click here or the logo above to: Jump to ALA's Legislative Action Center See what library legislation is hot Send a letter or fax to Congress U.S. Capitol switchboard 202-225-3121 Other News: "Grow Your Own @ Your Library" institutional scholarship application available online ALA divisions, round table support presidential Emerging Leaders initiative George Lopez urges families to get library cards ALAWON Editor: Andy Bridges To subscribe or unsubscribe, please click here. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. ALA Washington Office Emily Sheketoff; Executive Director 1615 New Hampshire Ave NW, First Floor Washington, D.C. 20009 202.628.8410 (V) 202.628.8419 (F) Office of Government Relations Lynne Bradley, Director; Melanie Anderson, Don Essex, Erin Haggerty, and Miriam Nisbet Office for Information Technology Policy Rick Weingarten, Director; Carrie Lowe, Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell