Weekly Interview, Nancy Crowell - by Amanda Estes
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Most people think of a library as a place for research and story hours, however, libraries are increasingly serving as communication centers during disastrous events when traditional information sources have been knocked out.
Nancy Crowell, library director for the Scarborough Public Library is proud to lead the library’s emergency response efforts in cooperation with the town’s “well coordinated” emergency management team.
“The role of libraries became highlighted during (Hurricane) Katrina and during Katrina libraries in the south were able to step forward and meet a variety of needs,” she said. Crowell said high-speed internet and public access computers make libraries a viable resource for emergency management teams who need to contact other sources or for members of the public who want to reach out to the outside world.
In addition, she said libraries can help the public fill out FEMA forms and in many cases library staff may take on more unexpected roles.
“Families tend to be in crisis at any point during an emergency and libraries fill the role of being daycare centers, a contact point that was familiar, and they’re often open spaces with large meeting rooms,” she said. “We as libraries were able to fill roles for the mental stability of a community as well as a communication site.”
If it sounds as though Crowell has just witnessed the role a library can play during a disaster, it is because Scarborough residents sought assistance from the library during the Patriots’ Day storm and Crowell is still connecting volunteers with people in need.
“During this storm...one of our cable providers was down for a full week in many neighborhoods and people needed to have access to Internet, but it was also school vacation week and people needed things as basic as a boarding pass to get on an airline to go somewhere,” she said. “The library was very busy, the week following the storm with people who were without power, people who were able to come here and get warm, have contact with humans...we were a very important respite for people right after the storm.”
Crowell said the storm also allowed her opportunity to see how committed the public safety and public works departments are to the town. For her own part, Crowell helped coordinate volunteers and connected people with storm damage with people who were willing to help with the clean up.
Two years ago, in order to get a better handle on the town’s strengths and weaknesses in responding to disasters, all of the department heads came together to undergo emergency management training. She said that was the first time the library was involved in the training and to the best of her knowledge it continues to be more involved than is the case in other parts of the state.
During the training, the group discussed how floods and storms might affect the community. She said the emergency plan in Scarborough is “very detailed” and includes information about equipment storage, population density, and what groups of people might need help. She said the information is updated regularly.
Crowell is also a member of a team that is seeking to educate the public on what to do in the event there is a pandemic. Scarborough has a team of four department heads, including the town manager, who are working toward coordinating equipment, supplies, personnel and information. The library offered a workshop to the business community on pandemic preparedness, she said.
“A pandemic offers a very different crisis than a storm or a flood,” she said. “It tends to be long lasting, it tends to come in waves and unlike our typical emergency where we all get together and help each other, in the case of a pandemic, we need to separate from one another.” She said a pandemic might force gathering places such as schools, libraries and other possible evacuation sites to close.
In the event there is a full-blown pandemic, she said up to 40 percent of the work force might be unable to work.
“Everything from your utilities to your food supply may be affected because quite literally there is no one to keep the store open,” she said. “Banks have to have a plan, you’re bank might not be open, the ATM might not be operating because there’s no one there to service it.”
The bird flu, which undoubtedly comes to most people’s minds when they hear the word pandemic, is a seasonal issue, but serious nonetheless, she said.
“When we get migratory birds moving again, we’re going to start hearing more about it,” she said. “There’s always the danger of you hearing too much and then [it’s] sort of the boy who cried wolf. We really need to keep subtedly moving the message forward.” She said federal government maps demonstrate the ways in which migratory flyways overlap and although we may believe the infected birds are only in other countries, there is a degree of interaction.
Is the library currently equipped to fully take on the role of a communication center? Crowell said no because they are not equipped with an emergency generator. She said the generator would be included in the library’s capital improvement budget in the future.
Also in the library’s future, are plans to move forward with repairs and renovations of the current building.
“Expansion is still in our future,” she said. “It will not be the same design that we brought to the voters last year. It’s much more likely to be smaller and possibly some sort of incremental expansion.” Although she was not ready to provide further details, she said the library is seeking public input on the issue.
When asked if she was surprised by the debate within the council over the library’s capital improvement budget that played out during the second reading of the 2008 budget, Crowell answered in the affirmative.
“We had participated in all the council workshops and the first reading and the public hearing and there had not been a question about the library budget during any of those opportunities,” she said. “With the exception of Mr. Babine, I had not been contacted by any of the councilors either for any additional information.”
Crowell said she was pleased the council gave her an opportunity to justify the requests and pleased over the final outcome.
“One of the things we recognize we have to do is really be sure we get the message to the community what our needs are and that fund raising for the library is very important so when we reach out for assistance, it’s in order for us to support the project and reduce the impact on the taxes,” she said. She said the library expects to return to the voters after gathering ample public input.
Staff Writer
Most people think of a library as a place for research and story hours, however, libraries are increasingly serving as communication centers during disastrous events when traditional information sources have been knocked out.
Nancy Crowell, library director for the Scarborough Public Library is proud to lead the library’s emergency response efforts in cooperation with the town’s “well coordinated” emergency management team.
“The role of libraries became highlighted during (Hurricane) Katrina and during Katrina libraries in the south were able to step forward and meet a variety of needs,” she said. Crowell said high-speed internet and public access computers make libraries a viable resource for emergency management teams who need to contact other sources or for members of the public who want to reach out to the outside world.
In addition, she said libraries can help the public fill out FEMA forms and in many cases library staff may take on more unexpected roles.
“Families tend to be in crisis at any point during an emergency and libraries fill the role of being daycare centers, a contact point that was familiar, and they’re often open spaces with large meeting rooms,” she said. “We as libraries were able to fill roles for the mental stability of a community as well as a communication site.”
If it sounds as though Crowell has just witnessed the role a library can play during a disaster, it is because Scarborough residents sought assistance from the library during the Patriots’ Day storm and Crowell is still connecting volunteers with people in need.
“During this storm...one of our cable providers was down for a full week in many neighborhoods and people needed to have access to Internet, but it was also school vacation week and people needed things as basic as a boarding pass to get on an airline to go somewhere,” she said. “The library was very busy, the week following the storm with people who were without power, people who were able to come here and get warm, have contact with humans...we were a very important respite for people right after the storm.”
Crowell said the storm also allowed her opportunity to see how committed the public safety and public works departments are to the town. For her own part, Crowell helped coordinate volunteers and connected people with storm damage with people who were willing to help with the clean up.
Two years ago, in order to get a better handle on the town’s strengths and weaknesses in responding to disasters, all of the department heads came together to undergo emergency management training. She said that was the first time the library was involved in the training and to the best of her knowledge it continues to be more involved than is the case in other parts of the state.
During the training, the group discussed how floods and storms might affect the community. She said the emergency plan in Scarborough is “very detailed” and includes information about equipment storage, population density, and what groups of people might need help. She said the information is updated regularly.
Crowell is also a member of a team that is seeking to educate the public on what to do in the event there is a pandemic. Scarborough has a team of four department heads, including the town manager, who are working toward coordinating equipment, supplies, personnel and information. The library offered a workshop to the business community on pandemic preparedness, she said.
“A pandemic offers a very different crisis than a storm or a flood,” she said. “It tends to be long lasting, it tends to come in waves and unlike our typical emergency where we all get together and help each other, in the case of a pandemic, we need to separate from one another.” She said a pandemic might force gathering places such as schools, libraries and other possible evacuation sites to close.
In the event there is a full-blown pandemic, she said up to 40 percent of the work force might be unable to work.
“Everything from your utilities to your food supply may be affected because quite literally there is no one to keep the store open,” she said. “Banks have to have a plan, you’re bank might not be open, the ATM might not be operating because there’s no one there to service it.”
The bird flu, which undoubtedly comes to most people’s minds when they hear the word pandemic, is a seasonal issue, but serious nonetheless, she said.
“When we get migratory birds moving again, we’re going to start hearing more about it,” she said. “There’s always the danger of you hearing too much and then [it’s] sort of the boy who cried wolf. We really need to keep subtedly moving the message forward.” She said federal government maps demonstrate the ways in which migratory flyways overlap and although we may believe the infected birds are only in other countries, there is a degree of interaction.
Is the library currently equipped to fully take on the role of a communication center? Crowell said no because they are not equipped with an emergency generator. She said the generator would be included in the library’s capital improvement budget in the future.
Also in the library’s future, are plans to move forward with repairs and renovations of the current building.
“Expansion is still in our future,” she said. “It will not be the same design that we brought to the voters last year. It’s much more likely to be smaller and possibly some sort of incremental expansion.” Although she was not ready to provide further details, she said the library is seeking public input on the issue.
When asked if she was surprised by the debate within the council over the library’s capital improvement budget that played out during the second reading of the 2008 budget, Crowell answered in the affirmative.
“We had participated in all the council workshops and the first reading and the public hearing and there had not been a question about the library budget during any of those opportunities,” she said. “With the exception of Mr. Babine, I had not been contacted by any of the councilors either for any additional information.”
Crowell said she was pleased the council gave her an opportunity to justify the requests and pleased over the final outcome.
“One of the things we recognize we have to do is really be sure we get the message to the community what our needs are and that fund raising for the library is very important so when we reach out for assistance, it’s in order for us to support the project and reduce the impact on the taxes,” she said. She said the library expects to return to the voters after gathering ample public input.
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