When the Earth Stopped Shaking, Where was our Library Service?

In September 2010 the Canterbury region was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. This event took place near the end of the second term of the semester 2 and created a number of problems for students finishing their assignments and sitting examinations. After remediation of buildings and the rethinking of spaces and how they were being utilised the UC library service (alongside the rest of the University) was ready for Semester 1, 2011. Day two of the semester started well, however the Canterbury region was to again experience a strong earthquake, this time it reached 6.3 on the Richter scale and caused death and devastation across the Canterbury region. This paper will explore how the Library contributed to the retention of students over the months that were required to get the University back up and functioning and how existing and new Library services were adapted and adopted to ensure that they met the needs of students and academics living and working in a changing physical landscape located in an active seismic area.