An essential component of disaster preparedness and response for libraries is consideration for the protection of the library collection. A library in Sicily resorted to extreme measures to rescue approximately 400 rare books in danger of destruction when a landslide left its facility hanging off the edge of a precipice.
The Guardian reports that firefighters made a detailed plan to enter the precarious building, strap together bookcases, and extract them quickly. This entailed serious risk to the firefighters, as geologists anticipate that the library will soon fall off the cliff. Their leader of the firefighters compared the planning and execution to akin to "pulling off a bank heist."
-via Super Punch | Photo: Sicilian Unit of Firefighters
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