Recovery of the Library (Overview)

1) Just after the Earthquake

On 17th January, 1995, the day of the Earthquake, only a few staff members could make it to the office because of damaged and burned houses The traffic system was also shut down. After seeing the view of the city of Kobe from the hill of Kobe University, staff members were in shock and at a complete loss at what they could do. Both electricity and telephones were down and the dangerous smell of leaking gas was all over the city.

2)Confirming the safety of staff members

Staff members who were able to come to the office used motorbikes to travel around the city and check the safety of the other staff members. On January 21st we were finally able to confirm that all staff members were safe. Even with the traffic system shut down, staff members came to the office to help. For some the journey took 3 to 4 hours. On the 23rd almost everybody could come to the office. We had a new hope for the recovery of the Library.

3) Recording Damage of the Earthquake

Before it was too late, we wanted to record the actual damage. The first thing we had to do was to take photos. It was difficult even to get film for the camera. On the 22nd we found a shop selling film. On the 23rd all day long we took photos of the damage at each branch library.

4) Students

As mentioned , students who lived in less expensive quarters suffered the most damage. Just after the Earthquake, many students who lost had their place to live came to college for help. We regret that we couldn’t even give them a place to sit down and think about their next move.

5) Recovery of the Library

A week after the Earthquake, we were finally able to confirm that all of the staff members were safe, although they did suffer quite a bit of damage. We could now direct our effort to the recovery process according to the order below:
  1. Offices
  2. Online systems
  3. Browsing spaces
  4. Starting the checkout services for browsing spaces
  5. Recovery of the closed shelves
  6. Restarting the services of closed shelves
  7. Restarting the Inter-Library Loan

6) Assistance from other University Libraries

A total of 45 library staff members from 11 Universities came to help with the recovery of the Library at their own, personal expense. With this kind assistance we could restart the library services much sooner than we had expected.
Many lessons were learned about protecting the Library during an Earthquake. It's necessary to develop a type of quake resistant bookshelves that would stop them from falling or some method to minimize the damage from falling. We were very fortunate that the Earthquake occurred in the early morning hours and no one was in the Library. But, disasters can happen at any time and usually give no warnings. Being mentally and physically prepared for an Earthquake is not only important to our Library, but to all Libraries around the world.