Advocacy, Outreach and Collaboration
Preconference
Lydia Collins, MLIS
Participant Engagement Lead
Training and Education Center, All of Us Research Program
Lisa Boyd
Project Scientist
National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
Kelli Ham
Community Engagement Librarian
University of California Los Angeles
Christian Minter
Community Engagement and Health Literacy Librarian
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Jennifer Jones
TEC - Executive Director
University of Pittsburgh
Are you interested in offering or increasing health outreach and programming at your library? Whether you are a small rural library with limited staff, part of a large library system or somewhere in between there are ways that you can help to create a culture of health in your community. This session will provide you with examples of both active and passive outreach and program ideas for youth, adults and seniors using freely available and reliable health information resources. Come and learn about the trusted health information resources from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and other reputable agencies that can be used for health outreach. Attendees will learn how to effectively introduce community members to NLM resources in fun and engaging ways.
During the session, attendees will participate in brainstorming sessions, small group discussions, play health and wellness games and practice planning a health outreach event for a specific population. They will also learn where to order and download freely available health outreach materials for distribution. Information on free tools for creating games and promotional materials will also be provided.
This session will also introduce attendees to the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) Libraries Transform Health Literacy Toolkit. The ALA/NNLM health literacy toolkit can be used to advocate for improved health and wellness in your community and encourage partnerships with local agencies. NNLM promotes health information by equipping library staff with effective skills and high-quality resources to meet the needs of their users. This is done through training, facilitating partnerships and funding for health outreach. Attendees will leave session with access to ready to use health outreach activity and “programs in a box” on topics such as doctor-patient communication, substance use awareness for youth, and health observance awareness.