Rural Estonian village library to double as crisis hub
A library-community center in Estonia's Leevaku village, Põlva County, will be adapted into a crisis hub offering warmth, food and phone charging during prolonged emergencies. The project is funded through a regional and national crisis-readiness scheme.
In Põlva County in southern Estonia, the library-community center in the village of Leevaku will soon take on an additional role as a local crisis hub. During emergencies such as prolonged power outages, residents will be able to come there to stay warm, get food and charge their phones.
The hub forms part of a broader, already existing crisis plan that covers Leevaku and the neighboring villages of Saareküla, Võuküla, Toolamaa and Jaanikeste. The plan includes a network of local contact people who assist households according to their needs and their ability to cope independently.
Funding to cover equipment and training
Newly allocated funding will go toward a generator to keep the building's geothermal heating and water systems running during outages, along with cots, an automated external defibrillator and other emergency supplies. The community also intends to hold drills and training sessions together with the Rescue Board, the Estonian Red Cross and the Women's Voluntary Defense Organization.
The center is intended mainly for situations like extended power cuts, storms and communications breakdowns rather than as a wartime shelter. Because the area lies near Estonia's southeastern border, residents would instead be evacuated in the event of a military threat.
The initiative is one of 13 crisis-readiness projects sharing more than €430,000 this year from a fund covering Võru, Põlva and Valga counties. Across Estonia, 33 such projects will receive a combined €1 million in support.
The Leevaku library building itself was completed in 2023.
