For the record: The fate of libraries and records offices in the Visayas, Philippines devastated by the typhoon Haiyan

Abstract

A year after Typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) hit central Philippines, traces of destruction are still evident. Libraries and records offices were not spared from the damage. Recovery efforts on lives and properties have been attended to but the salvage of records that establish the existence of lives and properties have earned little attention. This paper described the result of the survey, assessment and documentation on the extent of damage to selected academic libraries and government offices in Eastern and Western Visayas, Philippines conducted five and nine months respectively after the disaster. It also identified the recovery, restoration and conservation initiatives done by librarians, archivists, records officers, office managers and volunteers. It further documented innovative ways done to recover flood-damaged documents. The study also determined the disaster preparedness and the level of knowledge of the library staff on disaster management. Despite the delay in the recovery efforts and assessment of the damages, the findings of the study are useful in sharing the lessons learned and identifying common areas in need of improvement. The findings can serve as baseline data for disaster preparedness projects and researches, document recovery initiatives, capacity building of records officers and librarians on disaster management, and in building back better libraries and records offices.