October is designated as Health Literacy Month, an ideal chance for public libraries to curate and promote health information.  Helping with that cause is the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) and the American Library Association (ALA)  These two agencies have partnered to create a free toolkit for raising awareness of how libraries support health literacy in their communities.  This toolkit is part of the Libraries Transform campaign.

Studies show that more than 90 million American adults have low health literacy skills, which measures the extent to which people can access necessary health services, as well as their understanding of pertinent health information. Public, school, academic and special libraries play a key role in making quality health information accessible to all.

Library policies deter staff from answering specific patron questions regarding medical conditions or treatment options.  But staff can certainly guide library users to reliable, authoritative information, allowing patrons to make more education health-related decisions. Look to the Libraries Transform Health Literacy Toolkit to use throughout October.  And check out these additional websites for more on the topic

• Health Finder (U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services) https://healthfinder.gov/
• Health Reach (National Library of Medicine) https://healthreach.nlm.nih.gov/
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine https://nnlm.gov/mar/guides/consumer-health/nho

Health Literacy Toolkit

October 1-15

These first two weeks of October, the Big Library Read returns.  This reading initiative is the world’s largest eBook club, a virtual version of a local book discussion group.  This month’s Big Library Read title is The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke.  From October 1-15, BRIDGES eBook readers can join readers world wide by reading and discussing this title with the added advantage of being able to borrow this book simultaneously without wait lists or holds.

The Girl with the Red Balloon is a young adult novel telling the story of sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum.  Granddaughter of a f a Holocaust survivor, as she time-travels to 1988 East Berlin, where she is caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. 

It’s easy to participate in the Big Library Read by using marketing materials created by OverDrive. Again, local participation offers community-wide access to simultaneous downloads of this title at no cost to your library.  OverDrive’s marketing materials include posters, bookmarks, and press releases, click below

Big Library Read Promos

October 7-13

It’s next week already—Teen Read Week 2018 will be celebrated October 7-13.  This is the week when libraries nationwide have great options for teen programming.  When you participate in Teen Read Week, your library is joining a national literacy project sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of ALA.

The 2018 theme is “It’s Written in the Stars—Read.” This is your chance to spotlight all the resources and activities you provide for the teenage crowd.  From the YALSA website: “…Teens are not simply ‘older children’—the have reached a developmental stage that requires a different strategic approach in order to effectively understand, connect with, and serve them.  In addition, the needs and developmental abilities of younger teens ages 13 to 15 vary from those of older teens ages 16 to 18.  YALSA helps libraries increase their outreach to teens and serve them better…”

One great activity is to get your teen patrons involved in Teens Top 10 Voting.  Now through October 13, teens can vote for their favorite three titles from this year’s list of nominees.  Find the 2018 nominees, watch a promotional video, and encourage your community’s teens to vote early and often!  Find those details at the button below.

Also visit YALSA’s website http://www.ala.org/yalsa/  YALSA is a division of the American Library Association; its website is a great spot to find promotional materials, along with collection development lists, top YA titles, STEM and STEAM toolkits too. 

How will you help teens in your community Unleash Their Story?  Share your plans for Teen Read Week on LibraryTalk...   

Teen Read Week

This Week and Next

For everyone pre-registered, the Public Library Support Course begins next Thursday October 11.  This 5-week online course is the certification program for support personnel in Iowa libraries.

Look to dozens of national education providers for a menu of webinars at this link
https://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/c-d/continuing-ed/other-conted These are free online programs on a variety of topics, using a variety of web conferencing software.  Note that different web conferencing software have varying system requirements or require downloads.  Click into any of the program topics for connection instructions.

Finally, hundreds of Iowa library personnel and trustees converge in Cedar Rapids for ILA’s annual conference Wednesday-Friday this week.  Here’s to a great conference and safe travels!

ILA Conference 2018