Western States & Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS)

FAIN: PE-50003-07

Peninsula Library System (San Mateo, CA 94403-2273)
Linda Crowe (Project Director: July 2006 to September 2009)

Forty workshops on disaster preparedness and response that would result in disaster plans for up to 450 libraries and archives in ten western states and three Pacific territories.

Eighty percent of the libraries and archives in the Western and Pacific regions are not prepared to respond to disasters. They lack written disaster plans and personnel trained to carry them out, leaving their collections extremely vulnerable. The libraries and archives of the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and upper Midwest have begun work by creating regional preservation education and training centers. The Western and Pacific regions need to be comparably prepared. So, the Western States and Territories Preservation and Assistance Service (WESTPAS) was created. WESTPAS will deliver preservation information, education and training services to libraries and archives in the Western and Pacific regions. Its emphasis will be on disaster preparedness, emergency response and collection salvage. It will also build a network of library and archive professionals knowledgeable about preservation methods and practices.