Riverside County Library System “working closely with” Emergency Management Department to keep Library power on during shutoffs

During the January Public Safety Power Shutoffs, many locals used public warming and charging centers for the first time. The Idyllwild Community Center made their Town Hall facilities available for Southern California Edison during the longest outage, and ICC operated Town Hall as a center on its own during later outages.

The Idyllwild Public Library also remained open but without power. A trailer outside had free ice, and bottled water was available inside. Books could still be checked out, but the lights and heat were out.

The Town Crier asked if there was a plan to have the capability to keep the Library power on during shutoffs. We received this answer from Rebeckah Ross, Principal Development Specialist at the Riverside County Library System

“The Riverside County Library System (RCLS) is fully committed to ensuring uninterrupted service for our communities, even during power outages and electrical grid disturbances. Following the recent power outages in January, we conducted a thorough reassessment of our preparedness to better meet community needs. As part of these efforts, RCLS collaborated with the Riverside County Emergency Management Department (EMD) to evaluate backup power solutions for all our libraries, including the Idyllwild Library. Our RCLS Project Management team is now working closely with EMD to ensure that a generator will be operational in the near future. We remain committed to proactively enhancing our infrastructure to support our communities during emergencies.”