Ready — Or Not

Through the Ready – Or Not: Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project, the California State Library is preserving and protecting California’s rich cultural heritage by providing disaster preparedness assessments to cultural organizations across California.

If you want to join these organizations, please reach out to our partner, the Northeast Document Conservation Center, and request a free emergency preparedness assessment by filling out an online form, emailing CAready@nedcc.org, or calling 855-501-3020.

A red barn with some tractors.
Antelope Valley Rural Museum
A white wall with art on it.
Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center
A desert landscape with sand and rocks.
Death Valley National Park
A hut made of wooden sticks.
Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks
A group of people posing for a photo in front of a wooden archway.
Clarke Historical Museum in Eureka, CA
A person standing next to a sign that reads "Colonel Allensworth State History Park 1908 Centennial 2008 A California State Park".
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park
An adobe building made of wood and mud brick.
Fallbrook Historical Association’s adobe house in Fallbrook
A person standing on the steps of a building with a sign overhead that reads "Japanese Cultural and Community Center".
Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California
A white historic building with a tower in the woods.
John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, CA
A group of people standing in front of a large exhibit.
Pioneers’ Museum of Imperial
A large building with three balconies and doors.
San Diego History Center in Balboa Park
Two stone buildings with a wooden fence and a stone wall.
Tor House in Carmel
A stone statue of a girl reading in front of a building with a sign that reads "San Bruno Public Library".
San Bruno Public Library
A group of people, two sitting on a rock and two standing on the sides, in front of a brown and yellow pavilion.
Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center
A group of five people standing in a forest.
Tongva Taraxat Paxaaxva Conservancy

Organizations That Are Getting Ready

The “Ready — Or Not” project has an interactive map that shows which California organizations have had a site visit and assessment report. Below are the organizations that the “Ready — Or Not” team has visited.

Testimonials

Feedback from cultural heritage organizations that have received an assessment:

I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for your valuable time and effort spent with our museum staff yesterday for the “Ready — Or Not” Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project. Your insights and expertise were truly enlightening and have significantly contributed to the success of our project. Your dedication to preserving and promoting cultural heritage is inspiring, and we are incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from you. The knowledge and perspective you shared will undoubtedly help us in our ongoing efforts to safeguard our cultural heritage.

Museum Director of the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center, Ready — Or Not participant

The report offered a lot of guidance for writing a disaster plan and suggested key focus areas for the plan. Since the assessment, we have written a disaster plan, installed a security camera in the collections area, installed a new portable air conditioner in the primary storage area, and limited public access to collections areas. As the first archivist at my institution, the “Ready — Or Not” project supported me in advocating for enhanced disaster preparedness and better environmental conditions for our collections.

Ready — Or Not participant

Thank you so much for your time — it was an incredibly productive day for all of us. We were glad to hear of areas where we’re already on target for disaster/emergency planning, and energized to consider the next steps for upgrading our current preparations.

Ready — Or Not participant

We have already placed barriers between window blinds and collections facing direct sunlight. We have requested a carpenter to check for any shelving not tethered to the wall. Almost all items are now on pallets with risers, and we will soon be ordering bungee cords as well as RH and Temperature data loggers. The incident report notebook was a great idea, which we have retroactively instituted. This was a great experience for all of us.

Ready — Or Not participant