FREE Emergency preparedness Consultations and training in California
The “Ready—Or Not”: Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project provides free emergency preparedness services to California organizations that care for cultural and historic resources (e.g., archives, libraries, museums, and tribal nations).
Working one-on-one with staff and volunteers at participating organizations, a team of California-based emergency preparedness consultants provide the following services through 2026.
Free Consultations
Learn more
The free emergency preparedness consultations conclude at the end of July 2026.
The emergency preparedness assessment consultant team has reached over 550 organizations from 2022 to 2026 – libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, tribal nations, cultural centers, county clerks, academic and research libraries, botanical gardens, historic sites, and national parks. The consultant team provided assessment services to organizations in 51 of the 58 counties in California, reaching underserved and underrepresented communities across the state.
No-Cost Training and Resources
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Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your emergency response procedures, the "Ready—Or Not" self-paced course and online resources are designed to support you.
Additionally, read about our past wet-salvage and online trainings we offered in 2025-2026.
Pocket response resource (PRR)
DOWNLOAD THE PRR TEMPLATE
The “Ready—Or Not” team has customized the dPlan|ArtsReady Pocket Response Resource for California cultural resource institutions. The “PRR” is a concise emergency response resource that can be edited to fit your organization, then tucked in your pocket or stored on your device for immediate access.
Instructions
What it is:
- A concise emergency resource that can be tucked in your pocket or stored on your device for immediate access to emergency contact information and emergency response actions.
- A template that your arts or cultural organization, of any size or type, can easily customize, update, reproduce, and distribute.
- An initial element of your more detailed and holistic preparedness plan. It’s a great place to start, and a great exercise to get your team engaged in thinking about emergency planning in a way that’s approachable and that quickly results in a usable document.
What it’s not:
- It is not a readiness, emergency, or disaster plan. A plan is a combination of documents, processes, policies, trainings and drills that has been developed by an internal team and is familiar to all key staff and volunteers.
- It is not a replacement for training and drills for staff and volunteers who may need to immediately respond to an emergency. Preparing and training provide the ‘muscle memory’ to swing into action right away.
- It is not the place to stop! Visit our free Disaster Assessment Resources https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/disaster-assistance/ for more information and resources to build out your complete preparedness plan.
How to fill it out:
- Less is more. You may be tempted to load this document with information that seems convenient to include. Don’t! Users must easily find exactly the information they need in the critical minutes and hours after an emergency. And, adding too much information will expand the document to three pages.
- Based on your particular computer, device, or operating system, the PRR may display differently. You may need to make some minor adjustments to ensure your PRR covers only two pages.
- Fill out a separate Pocket Response Resource for each of your buildings/locations.
- Consider security. You may need to include sensitive information in this document, which can be risky in wide distribution. (Examples include personal contact information, institutional financial and security information, facility access points and security details, etc.)
- If your organization has multiple facilities/buildings on a campus/complex, staff from each facility should work together. Complete those items which are common across the organization, including the institutional contacts and responses, and then tailor the remainder to specific locations.
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News
Funding Success
Participants organizations have used their assessments to to support applications for grants and other funding for emergency preparedness.
- Groundwork Grants supported the Corita Art Center with funding to improve their storage capabilities and environmental control in their spaces.
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Groundwork Grants supported the Calabasas Library with funds to purchase archival-quality supplies for the rehousing of Special Collections, workplace safety gear and spill response kits, backup external hard drives for digital preservation, and environmental monitoring tools for better collections management.
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Groundwork Grants also supported Turtle Bay Exploration Park with funds to enhance the stewardship of their permanent collection of art, artifacts, historical documents, and images.
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Groundwork Grants supported the Mineral King Preservation Society in acquiring items to better preserve and protect their collection.
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NEH also provided funding to the Automotive Research Library - Horseless Carriage Foundation for storage shelving, emergency response supplies, and online training to improve stewardship of materials related to automobile history.
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NEH awarded the GLBT Historical Society funds to purchase and install preservation furniture for rare and unique archival posters.
Testimonials
RUBÉN AMAVIZCA
Administrative Director at the Frida Kahlo Theater
"On behalf of Grupo de Teatro SINERGIA at the Frida Kahlo Theater, we want to express our deepest gratitude for the detailed and comprehensive consultation you gave us on emergency preparedness. You immediately understood the needs of a small arts organization, and the realities and challenges we face in a post-pandemic environment. Your site visit was extremely thorough.
We really appreciated the time you took to patiently listen to our needs, take a tour of the facilities, and advise us on how to begin creating a detailed plan to ensure both safety and succession/continuity of business for our organization. The 35 page report, plus templates and additional resources, will be invaluable as we move forward. Consulting with you regarding preservation of our archival materials was extremely helpful, as we gain awareness of the importance of our history, not only to the theater community, but to the Latinx community at large.
We would also like to acknowledge the California State Library for funding and the Northeast Document Conservation Center for implementing this program, which would have been beyond the scope of our resources. Grupo de Teatro SINERGIA wholeheartedly recommends this program and has given your information to several other Latinx theater companies in Los Angeles."
JAMES BIER
Museum Director of the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center
“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.”
EVA GRITZ
Archivist at the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society
“There was a lot we knew needed to be done, but a lot we overlooked. Participating in 'Ready—Or Not' made our board—and me, the only collections care staff member at the time—realize just how important planning ahead is, and the difference it can make.”
Read more about the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.
Project Timeline
The California State Library and its cultural heritage partners via the California Cultural Collections Protection Survey estimate that 1,200 cultural collection-holding organizations in lacked disaster preparedness plans.
In response to the results of the California Cultural Collections Protection Survey, NEDCC is awarded $3.14 million to steward the “Ready – Or Not”: Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project, a three-year initiative to assess emergency preparedness at California organizations that care for cultural and historic resources.
NEDCC’s “Ready—Or Not” team performs emergency preparedness assessments at more than 400 organizations across California.
Each assessment results in a summary report with recommendations for identifying and mitigating risks, taking emergency preparedness actions, and completing a disaster response plan.
Participating organizations include archives, museums, libraries, historical societies, tribal nations, county clerks, public art collections, cultural centers, state historic parks, national parks, university cultural departments, community organizations, outdoor art installations, and missions and diocese collections, wildlife associations, and botanical gardens.
NEDCC received an additional $1.7 million in funding from the California State Library to expand the “Ready—Or Not”: Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project with additional consultation services, training opportunities, and emergency preparedness resources.
This project is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
