Crosscut Now
Feb. 9, 2022 - The new emergency responders: Librarians
2/9/2022 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
The new emergency responders: Librarians.
As climate change and extreme weather challenge Puget Sound's emergency services, libraries are increasingly at the front lines of community care.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Feb. 9, 2022 - The new emergency responders: Librarians
2/9/2022 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
As climate change and extreme weather challenge Puget Sound's emergency services, libraries are increasingly at the front lines of community care.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Crosscut Now
Crosscut Now is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(lively music) - Hello, I'm Stephen Hegg in the "Crosscut" KCTS 9 newsroom.
(bright music) The Seattle Public Library system closed the downtown Central Library and 26 branches during heavy snow and cold at the end of 2021 because conditions were deemed unsafe for employees and patrons.
It's not the first time inclement weather has forced a closure, but this time, many library users were devastated to lose their only dependable places of refuge during the pandemic.
In Seattle and beyond, libraries and librarians are increasingly the new emergency responders to homelessness, COVID, and climate-related events.
Last summer's record-breaking heat forced many into the refuge of air-conditioned libraries.
But some librarians believe that cities including Seattle depend too much on libraries for social services to the detriment of their primary purpose, to provide access to information, and this is while libraries regularly have to fight for funding.
I'm Stephen Hegg.
Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.
(lively music)
- News and Public Affairs
Top journalists deliver compelling original analysis of the hour's headlines.
- News and Public Affairs
FRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world.
Support for PBS provided by:
Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS