Every year, cultural organizations take time on May 1st to assess their emergency preparedness. This MayDay, the American Association for State and Local History encourages you to take at least a few moments to evaluate your readiness to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies, and to “Do One Thing for Emergency Preparedness.”Making sure that emergency procedures are in place and updated can prevent loss of  collections or  damage to  historical structures and landscapes.

There are many groups and resources available to help organizations protect their collections and facilities against natural disasters. Below are a few to browse ahead of time, and keep on hand in case of emergency. Once you have a Disaster Plan in place, check out the AASLH blog post “I have a Disaster Plan. Now What?

Groups:

MayDay Activities and Ideas:

Emergency Preparedness Resources:

Sample Documents: