A GIS-based analysis for transportation accessibility, disaster preparedness, and rural libraries’ roles in community resilience

Abstract

We present a case in which we used a geographic information system (GIS) framework to gather, analyze, and compare two rural library systems’ accessibility during Hurricane Michael’s devastating strike on the Florida Panhandle in 2018. Outreach to rural communities is always challenging, but in disasters, connecting with vulnerable communities becomes nearly impossible considering widespread destruction and lack of resources to travel obstructed distances. To understand disaster access to libraries, we used GIS modeling to explore the connections among public libraries, their communities, and built environment (e.g., population densities, transportation infrastructure). Our findings identified access issues for libraries in each county, which can inform disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts and improve delivery of valuable resources to all community members. Implications for library directors, librarians, county emergency management officers, and affected communities using travel times between population block groups are provided.