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Puerto Rico's libraries, archives and museums road to recovery: A timeline of events after Hurricane Maria

March 2018

Six months after the impact of Hurricane Maria we are still seeing reports of damages, calls for help, and diverse initiatives to aid public and school libraries. The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in the City of New York University published a comprehensive report of damages, disaster relief, and a new wave of migration to the United States as a consequence of the devastation. With the spirit to continue to “train the trainer” the Heritage Emergency and Response Training (HEART), offered a one week intensive and practical course of emergency planning and response dedicated to museum personnel at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. This was coordinated by the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF) and sponsored by the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. The week ended with a special workshop for the general community, artists and collectors.

Librarians were also invited to meet with Libraries Without Borders to develop ideas to create a community center and mobile library to reach those in need. Words about the damages experienced by researchers were shared in the Research Data Access and Preservation Summit 2018 by Jaquelina Álvarez and Hilda Teresa Ayala-González, librarians from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. Also, a huge initiative is launched by Hiromi Shiba to aid rescue and preserve the artistic work of José Rosa, after the hurricane destroyed his workshop.

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Event - The Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF) and the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, in collaboration with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), provided the Heritage Emergency and Response Training to museum professionals in the Island. The training took place at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and topics ranged from collection salvage techniques, evacuation and long term planning for emergency management in a weeklong intensive course.