Open AccessThe Fight Against Enzy: US Libraries During the Influenza Epidemic of 1918
Author(s) -
Lorri Mon
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
dttp/documents to the people
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0270-5095
pISSN - 0091-2085
DOI - 10.5860/dttp.v49i1.7538
Subject(s) - pandemic , covid-19 , political science , government (linguistics) , virology , medicine , philosophy , infectious disease (medical specialty) , linguistics , disease , pathology , outbreak
In 2020, a pandemic of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus struck worldwide, rapidly becoming the most devastating since the 1918 global influenza pandemic. As librarians confronted entirely new challenges in how to safely manage libraries during the COVID-19 crisis, a common question was, “what happened in libraries during the 1918 influenza pandemic?” This article explores that question through the lens of government documents and news articles of the 1918-1921 time period, seeking to understand what happened then in libraries nationwide, and what we might learn from it today.