Libraries have to consider many issues for disaster plans to be successful. Many libraries are damaged by fires, floods, severe storms, electrical outages, and vandalism. Every type of library should have a plan to protect its staff, sites, and collections.Guy Robertson is a senior instructor based in Vancouver at Langara College, where he teaches library history, reference and readers’ advisory services, and records management. He works as a consultant to organizations across North America. He is a frequent contributor to ELAN, ELA's newsletter. He has authored many articles ranging from his regular column on British Columbia library news to his observations on English libraries, such as:
■ the Royal College of Surgeons Library and Hunterian Museum in London
■ the Lincoln Cathedral Library
■ London's National Gallery Library
■ Research Centre and the Guildhall Library
■ the Paddington Library
■ the Weston Library at the University of Oxford
■ the Palace Green Library, Durham University
■ Cambridge University Library
■ the Bishop Porteus Library, Fulham Palace, London

Guy is the author of five books on library and archival topics. His particular interest is a disaster-planning consultant for libraries.
■ Unofficial wisdom: selected contributions to Feliciter 1995-2009 (2009)
■ Disaster planning for libraries: process and guidelines (2015)
■ Front-line librarianship: life on the job for today's librarians (2019)
■ Robertson on library security and disaster planning (2016)
■ Disaster planning for special libraries (2021)

Guy's 45-minute webinar covers a broad range of risks involved with future planning for natural disasters, human-caused problems, technological accidents, security breaches and threats, as well as organizational difficulties. His survey highlights the need for planning to mitigate risks and ensure staff preparedness if an unexpected threat should arise. The entire presentation in audio format can be accessed here (requires software for WAV files):

An accompanying brief resume of his talk is available as a PDF download at this link.