Mapping Washington State Libraries, Archives, and Cultural Heritage Institutions' Vulnerability to Climate Change
Heidi Shepard and Erin Bercovici, Information School
Galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) in Washington State face growing environmental risks as climate change accelerates and worsens the severity of wildfire activity, flooding, rising sea levels, drought, and earthquakes. Many organizations, particularly smaller or rural ones, lack the capacity to interpret complex climate data or to evaluate how these threats affect their collections. At the same time, climate information and recommendations are often fragmented, creating barriers for institutions that need guidance for a multitude of risks. With this in mind, we've built an easy-to-use risk visualization tool to help organizations understand their unique geographic vulnerabilities. We hope that this map will also help organizations to identify peers facing similar risks and allow them to coordinate resource-sharing and disaster preparedness plans. Our project aims to support cultural heritage resilience across the state and provide a model that could be used to assess GLAMs vulnerability in other states or regions in the future.