Tyler Eagle, Wrangell Museum coordinator, is learning more about how to better protect artifacts in the event of an earthquake or other emergency - such as these items from Nore's Dairy on display at the museum.
Tyler Eagle, who started as museum coordinator at the Nolan Center and Wrangell Museum last August, is taking part in a state-run training program on what to do and which collections to save first in case of a disaster or emergency.
Museum heads and coordinators of cultural collections across the state are taking part in the weekly online training program, put on by the state Libraries, Archives and Museums Division under the Department of Education, which runs until June.
Disasters in the past five or six years led to improved standards, Eagle said March 15. The state decided to pull together funds to train the keepers of Alaska's cultural legacies throughout the state, "so there is a network in place of people who have some idea of what to do in the event of an emergency," he said.
Eagle will attend a three-day, in-person workshop in Juneau May 24-26 put on for Southeast participants. The fire department in Juneau will set a faux collection alight, and program participants will have to put into practice what they've learned and do a salvage operation, he said last Thursday.
Capital City Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Ed Quinto last Thursday said the department will be doing a "mock training" for the program participants at the fire training center, a concrete building where the fire department practices knocking down flames.
Anjuli Grantham, curator of statewide services at the Alaska State Museum, said the workshop is going to be a big production.
"It's like conference planning but also gathering a bunch of things to set on fire," Grantham said March 15.
The state received a federal grant after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck just north of Anchorage on Nov. 30, 2018, followed by 170 aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That grant allowed the state to create an emergency preparations training program.
"There were 13 libraries and museums damaged in the earthquake," Grantham said. "Only one used their emergency plan. We saw staff needed training related to preparedness and response. The reason for this, if there is an emergency, a lot of things can be replaced with lots of money, but a lot of things that we are stewards of can never be replaced if they are destroyed."
There are also in-person trainings planned in Wasilla and Fairbanks.
Grantham said the state has had 37 different libraries, archives and museums go through the program so far, with 50 staff members and volunteers participating in the training.
Each participant is assigned a coach with preservation experience, and each participant is working on their respective institution's disaster plan, such as a "really good emergency contact list, knowing who is going to do what, what are the things that are the most valuable, and making sure all your building's systems are in good operation," she said.
The training and travel are funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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