Critical Connectors
From Governing:
During emergencies, citizens and even some disaster workers depend on libraries for Internet connections to the world.They don’t pilot boats down hurricane-flooded streets or pull people from second-story windows. Nor do they wear uniforms, carry firearms or direct emergency vehicles. But library employees have been first responders nevertheless. People in coastal states who lost their homes to the wind and water of hurricanes Katrina and Rita flocked to public computers housed in libraries. They filed insurance claims, connected with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, contacted family members and found out via the Internet what was happening in the communities they’d had to flee.