University of Illinois (Illinois Fire Service Institute Library)

The Illinois Fire Service Institute Library at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign will conduct experience-based knowledge management initiatives to support Illinois firefighters. Through teaching, research, information, and training based on events and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, the library hopes to inform future firefighter training. The library will gather oral histories and reflections documenting firefighters’ personal experiences during the pandemic and add them to IDEALS, the institutional repository for the University of Illinois. The library also will collect images documenting Illinois fire departments’ COVID-19 response and add them to the Illinois Digital Archives. Both resources will be freely available to the public.