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Los Angeles is a sprawling city with a range of geographic, economic, and social variables, and the wildfires that affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area in January were a demonstration of that diversity, with the area’s three main library systems—Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), LA County Library, and Altadena Library District—impacted by the fires to very different degrees.

A multi-state coalition files lawsuit following week of rapid changes at IMLS.

The vital role libraries play in their communities has been well documented, yet many libraries are overlooked, and certainly underfunded, for their significant involvement in disaster preparedness and recovery. Each new disaster brings focus to the urgency around recognizing libraries as key climate resiliency partners. To that end, academics, practitioners, educators, and other leaders have created a body of work to help share stories that raise awareness.

In our Climate Crisis series, rolling out over the next two weeks, LJ writers examine climate chaos from multiple perspectives and offer their thoughts on ways to address climate impact.

We have now passed the point of no return: We have not acted fast enough to slow the increasing frequency and severity of the impacts of the climate emergency in our lifetime. Even if we were to do everything “right,” climate scientists predict we have at least 30 more years of increasingly dire impacts from climate change. We now find ourselves facing this reality with an incoming administration that has already declared plans to roll back environmental protections that would have helped us do things “right” for future generations. So, what now?

Are libraries the key to living your best life?

On November 19, the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) released a report presenting the results of its 2024 Library Insights Survey, which charts the successes and challenges North American public libraries have seen in service to their communities since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Takeaways included a steady increase in attendance since the lows of 2022, with some notable differences in how libraries are being used.

One painful part of living through the pandemic for me was the sense that Americans were failing one another. Recent catastrophic weather events have brought back that same sense of unease. When deadly Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall last month, conspiracy theorists suggested they were manufactured for political benefit. Federal relief efforts were stymied by online misinformation, and a man was arrested for threatening FEMA workers. America, we’re not okay.

As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in work, creative pursuits, and the generation of online misinformation, public libraries have a major new role to play in digital literacy.