Disaster Management and Exhibition Loans: Contingency Planning for Items on Display

Background

From a legal perspective, formal written agreements obligate institutions borrowing materials to care for materials on loan, including care initiated in contingency responses, yet the body of professional library literature does not directly provide comprehensive assistance on how best to administer exhibition loans with disaster planning protocols in mind. Frequently, library staff administer loans as an additional task assigned to a person involved in exhibition planning, preservation, or departmental administration. Librarians managing exhibition loans can benefit from the professional standards and best practices developed by museum registrars and collection managers who manage loans as their primary professional pursuit.

Furthermore, libraries insure materials on loans differently from their main holdings, and loan materials may present legal indemnity issues. The body of professional library literature does not directly enumerate these matters, yet librarians managing exhibition loans must understand these concerns and know how to address them.