Towards establishment of a full-fledged disaster management department for Moi University libraries

Abstract

This study sought to determine the key issues that underpin the establishment of Disaster Management (DM) department for Moi university libraries. The findings are based on data collected from Moi University community. Data was collected by use of interviews, observation and document analysis. The study aimed to: find out if there are disaster cases that relate to Moi University libraries; ascertain measures that have been undertaken to curb such disasters and establish the effectiveness of those measures in curbing disaster occurrences in university libraries. This study established that university libraries are faced with several moribund disaster threats such as: fire, water, heavy storms, earthquakes, burst water reservoir and pipes, hardware failure, sabotage, student riots, and terrorist attacks. The study also established that measures that have been taken to curb disaster occurrence in university libraries have not been very effective. It recommends the establishment of disaster management policy with a budget allocation part of which the library management could use to develop a specific policy for the library.