The Hill – “Demarcations of “essential” versus “non-essential” services should not prevent the growth of creative efforts to leverage “non-essential” services against the pandemic and its rippling consequences. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most local governments have decided to close their library buildings in order to ensure the safety of library staff and patrons. But libraries should not be put on the bench just because their buildings are closed.  Historically, librarians have much to offer in response to emergencies. In the days after the Ferguson shooting, the Ferguson Municipal Public Library provided ad-hoc school for students whose schools had closed. In the days after Hurricane Sandy, the Queens Library helped people fill out relief forms and hosted nurses whose medical facilities had been destroyed by the storm to provide outpatient services. In my own work with libraries around the world, I have seen librarians on the front lines of political and natural disasters. In Haiti, after the earthquake in 2010, librarians helped first-responders connect to the information they needed to do their jobs.Libraries are offering similarly critical resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though their buildings are now closed. The Central Library of Arlington in Virginia temporarily converted to a warehouse to receive donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for first responders. The Toronto Public Library has turned library branches into food banks to help feed the city’s most vulnerable. The Rochester Public Library in Minnesota has turned one of their buildings into a day-shelter for the homeless…”