Allister Chang

On Friday, the House of Representatives voted 208 to 199 for a $3 trillion aid package called the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. It includes proposals for new stimulus payments to individuals, hazard pay for first responders, rent and mortgage assistance, and more. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) has said that the Senate would begin talks about the HEROES Act after the Memorial Day recess.

In 2016, a man set fire to a library in St. Cloud, MN. Allister Chang had an opportunity to speak with Karen Pundsack, director of the Great River Regional Library System, to reflect on what the library learned from the experience that is applicable to its COVID-19 response today. She demonstrates how library resilience transfers from one disaster to another, and in the process, the resilience of libraries as social infrastructure.