An investigation on disaster preparedness at the University of Dar es Salaam library, Tanzania.

Disaster preparedness is vital in safeguarding library resources for sustainable utilization. It was expected that having invested heavily on ICT and print resources, the UDSM Library would have also invested heavily on disaster prevention. This study aimed at examining disaster preparedness at the University of Dar es Salaam Library. The study population was the UDSM Library staff and users. Data were collected through questionnaires, interview and observation methods. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select respondents. A sample size of 75 respondents was selected and it was divided into two groups, the library staff (57) and users (18). The study revealed that the UDSM Library is not prepared to deal with disasters. Library staff and users have no disaster knowledge and skills since 93% and 88.9% of the library staff and users reported to have not attended any disaster training respectively; 89.5% of library staff indicated that there is no written disaster plan at the UDSM Library, 88.9% of the library staff indicated that the library communication system infrastructure has not been designed to cope with potential disasters. The study recommends provision of disaster preparedness by providing training to the library staff and users, development of disaster plans and policies which will govern preparedness, introduction to disaster preparedness course in Information Studies Programme, redesigning the UDSM Library infrastructure, establishment of disaster preparedness section in the library and improving the library budget which will include disaster preparedness activities. This study concludes that the libraries like other institutions are not excluded from disaster events thus disaster preparedness in libraries is very important.