News Report #4

“Hawaiian Librarians Aid in Tsunami Recovery in American Samoa”

Gordon Flagg, American Libraries Online

November 11, 2009 http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/november2009/amsamoarecovery111109.cfm?persistent=&expy_dt=

In the aftermath of the tsunami that struck American Samoa, Samoa, and Tonga on September 29, two librarians traveled from Hawai`i to Pago Pago to lead salvage efforts of vital records and other documents from the country’s demolished libraries. Lynn Davis and Jane Barnwell, head of preservation at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and director of Pacific Resources for Education and Learning in Honolulu, respectively, went to American Samoa from October 14-29 as part of a document recovery taskforce sponsored by the Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS). Ms. Davis had previously conducted disaster-preparedness workshops for government agencies in Pago Pago a year earlier, which involved the development of disaster plans and aided in the recovery and loss-prevention of essential documents. The tsunami destroyed four school libraries and killed over 190 people in the three countries.

News about the tsunami in American Samoa was very scary. I have family in Western Samoa and the tsunami caused so much destruction. However, I’ve never thought about the possibility of the destruction of government and historical documents through a natural disaster. The article notes the long recovery time it takes for such documents to go through conservation treatment, citing the flash flood at the University of Hawaii in 2004 that destroyed a large portion of the library’s rape map and government documents collection. Five years later, thousands of documents still wait to be treated. I am glad this article has come to my attention. I’ve never thought about it until now, but to lose a piece of the past, especially when it comes to the comparatively relegated past from Polynesia, makes me glad for the work of these librarians and makes me more aware of the importance of libraries and conservation.