Library as Lifeboat: A Library and Emergency Management Partnership

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Prior to 2011 Chesterfield County employed a standard emergency management approach that placed the primary responsibility for the community’s emergency response on police, sheriff and fire departments. Other agencies with the requisite equipment and skill, such as Parks and Recreation were charged with clearing roads and debris from public roadways and structures. While not a first responder or a department with skill and equipment in debris cleanup, Chesterfield County Public Library (CCPL) staff were called upon in 2011 to work with local emergency management personnel, throughout Hurricane Irene to shelter displaced daytime residents, distribute meals and disseminating disaster information and updates to community residents throughout the county, actions that had not previously been tried by the county emergency management. This extemporaneous role was so successful that CCPL emerged as a key player in the local response to Hurricane Irene and a permanent player in providing temporary daytime shelter, access to emergency meals and distribution of emergency information.