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You said: The issue is not the time lag. The issue is the refusal to help the police. The later willingness to help the police does not obliterate the previous refusal to help. And by then the help was no longer needed anyway, according to the story.
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I don't have a dog in this fight, as far as I know. My library card has my name on it. It's in my wallet with my drivers license and other identifying information. I don't have a thing for or against libraries or librarians in general. It wouldn't surprise me if most of them leaned left, however.

That said, I don't see a problem with how the library reacted in this case, based upon what I have read in the article. The lady had already been treated, so this was not an "exigent" circumstance. The police appear to have called on the phone, so it was not obvious that the police were who they said they were. The information I gave the library to get my library card doesn't include anything that would help treat me medically. I don't see any evidence of ill will toward the police by the librarian, only a concern about releasing information to someone who may not be entitled to it. Even the police aren't entitled to information unless it is for a proper purpose. Finally, the slight delay here could not have resulted in any harm, given the nature of the information the library probably had about her. I wonder how long it would have taken if the police had found a doctor's office appointment card on the woman? What would the doctor's office have required in order to give out information such as blood type, allergies, medical history, etc.? I doubt that the doctor's office would have given ID data to the police (or, as in this case, someone calling and claiming to be the police), at least not as readily as to the hospital.