2019 Joint Conference ILA/NLA/NSLA

There are many possible disasters in a library: water, fire, tornado, and small critters like mold and bugs. The wise library director has developed written plans on how to recover from these events. These plans include who at the maintenance department needs to be called, or where the wet-dry vacuum is. We know who to call in case of fire. But do you have a plan or even a sketch of what will happen when the primary source of your funding calls and says sorry, we are cutting the library budget by 50%? What is your plan to react to this? Or perhaps your bond issue fails, and your library has 0 funding.
Do you put it out of your mind saying, “It’s an issue we never see” or “it will never happen?” Do you wait for it to happen and then develop a plan? Or do you work with your board to strategize, then sketch out a plan, and like the mythical Phoenix “Rise from the ashes.” Well, with today’s tax concerns, loss of funding is always a possibility. This interactive session will review what thoughts and planning needs to be done to develop your own Phoenix Plan.