Strengthening community resilience efforts in disasters: Exploring the roles of public libraries

Christine Hagar, PhD

doi:10.5055/jem.2015.0232

Authors

Christine Hagar, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2015.0232

Keywords:

disasters, public libraries, community resilience

Abstract

Public libraries “now respond to a wide range of

ongoing and emerging needs,”1 which include helping

communities cope with the unexpected—such as

disruptive events, disasters, and emergencies. In their

evolving and multiple roles, public libraries can play a

critical part in building the resilience that could help

individuals, families, and the whole community recover

from disasters more rapidly. As disasters are often local

events, local organizations such as public libraries are

critical in responding to them. In this editorial, I argue

that as community and information hubs,2 the nation's

public libraries, of which there are more than 16,000,

are well situated to engage in strengthening community

resilience efforts in disasters.

In Spring 2015, a national survey

Author Biography

Christine Hagar, PhD

Assistant Professor, School of Library & Information Science, San Jose State University, California

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