How do public libraries work with others to support community health? A team of researchers based out of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro have been addressing this question since August 2020.
This webpage contains our findings, organized into three parts:
- Articles, case studies, and blog posts
- Webinars and videos
- A toolkit
We invite you to peruse this webpage, and share with us your feedback.
Our overarching focus is on what public health professionals call HEAL, or Healthy Eating & Active Living.
Why HEAL at the library? Public libraries are trusted anchor institutions at the heart of nearly every community in America. In this project we seek to understand how public libraries collaborate with others to support community health so that we can create stronger pathways between public library workers and others committed to improving America’s health outcomes.
This project, August 2020 to July 2023, was funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum & Library Services (Grant # RE-246336-OLS-20). At the bottom of this page you can read more about this project’s timeline and personnel.
The culminating event in this project occurred in April 2023 when nearly 200 public library workers and partners joined us online to discuss how we can together Cultivate the Relationship-Driven Library. Learn more on the event webpage.
ARTICLES, CASE STUDIES, AND BLOG POSTS
Research is only valuable if it is shared widely in an accessible format!
We strive to fulfill this ethos by making our findings broadly accessible. Learn more below.
Case studies
The research team performing case studies in 18 strategically chosen communities across 14 states to produce and disseminate an evidence-based, action-oriented model on how public libraries form, sustain, and leverage these community partnerships.
Learn more about these 18 communities in their approach to working with partners to support HEAL below.
McCracken County Public Library
Rutherford County Library System
Gail Borden Public Library District
Anne Arundel County Public Library
Blog posts
We also strongly believe in the importance of using all available communication channels to get research out. Read more in the following blog posts:
How and Why to Team up with your local librarian published July 2021 on America Walks.
Why more public libraries are doubling as food distribution hubs published May 2021 on The Conversation.
Can Parks Leverage Libraries? published in the April 2021 Official Magazine of the National Recreation & Park Association.
Rules of the road: Partnering with public libraries for collective impact published March 2021 on Shareable.
Using StoryWalks to Bring Reading and Fun Downtown published March 2021 on Main Street America.
Harnessing the Power of Public Libraries Podcast episode of Midwestern Public Health Training Center
Research articles and presentations
Finally, we believe in the value of peer-reviewed research and scholarly presentations. Check out some of what we’ve published and shared below.
Lenstra, N., & McGehee, M. (2022). How Public Health Partners Perceive Public Librarians in 18 US Communities. Journal of Library Outreach and Engagement, vol. 2, issue 1.
Research presented at New Librarianship Symposia.
Research presented in CDC’s Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN) Research Series. Download slides.
Research presented at CHOICES: Celebrating Food, Health Equity, and Collaboration Conference. Download the presentation “Partner with your Public Library!”
Research presented at North Carolina Recreation and Park Association’s The Works Conference. Download the presentation “How and why to team up with your local librarian.”
Invited keynote presentation at Umatilla County (Oregon) Special Library District on topic of “Making a Difference in the Community’s Health” Download presentation.
WEBINARS and VIDEOS
Event kick-off and toolkit launch: Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library
Sparking Change: Early Career Perspectives: Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library
Sparking Change: Directors & Branch Manager Perspectives: Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library
Institutionalizing Collaboration – Rural Perspectives: Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library
Institutionalizing Collaboration – Urban Perspectives: Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library
Where do we ‘GROW’ from here: Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library
Pitching Public Health to Public Libraries: Finding Common Ground
Bike Advocacy Through Community Connections: League of American Bicyclists
Closing the Gap: Public Libraries & Public Health: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
Cultures of Health & Cultures of Collaboration – Where do Libraries Fit?: The EDGE Conference
Keynote presentation of Leap from the Page: Libraries Promoting Healthy Lifestyles: Public Libraries Victoria
CULTIVATING THE RELATIONSHIP-DRIVEN LIBRARY TOOLKIT
Based on our findings, in April 2023 we launched Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library: A Toolkit.
This living document contains our knowledge about how public library workers and their community partners support HEAL.
We invite you t
o peruse this toolkit and share your feedback.
OUR MILESTONES
August 2020 – Project Launch
February 2021 – Research presented as part of Midwestern Public Health Training Center’s Public Health and Public Libraries Toolkit. Watch the the presentation of “Pitching Public Health to Public Libraries: Finding Common Ground” presented with Scott Allen, Deputy Director of the Public Library Association, and listen to the podcast episode “Harnessing the Power of Public Libraries.”
March 2021 – Research presented at CHOICES: Celebrating Food, Health Equity, and Collaboration Conference. Download the presentation “Partner with your Public Library!”
Research presented at University of Illinois Mini-Talks on Libraries, Literatures, and Literacies. Access the video-recording of “Closing the Gap: Public Health and Public Libraries.”
April 2021 – Research presented at Active Living Conference. Download the presentation “Public Libraries as Partners for Collective Impact.”
Research presented at North Carolina Recreation and Park Association’s The Works Conference. Download the presentation “How and why to team up with your local librarian.”
June 2021 – Completion of research manuscript “Public librarians as part of the HEAL Environment: How do partners perceive them?” currently being finalized for peer review
Research presented at Nature, Culture, and Human Health (NCH2) Network. Download the presentation “Libraries as Gateways to the Outdoors.”
Research presented at National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health Regional Partnership Meetings: Southwest and Midwest Regions. Download the presentation “Closing the Gap: Public Health and Public Libraries.” Watch the presentation here.
Research presented at Walk/Bike/Places 2021 Conference. Download the presentation “Inclusive, informed, impactful: Public libraries as partners on the route to recovery.”
July 2021 – Completion of 135 interviews with 75 public library workers and 60 public library partners on their experiences working together
September 2021 – Research presented at National Institutes’ of Health Virtual Summit on Food Insecurity, Neighborhood Food Environment, and Nutrition Health Disparities: State of the Science, with Nicole Peritore, Augusta University.
Research presented in CDC’s Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN) Research Series. Download slides.
Researched presented as part of panel discussion of “Supporting Healthy Minds and Bodies: Strategies for Building Resilience” at ALISE Conference.
October 2021 – Research presented at Association for Rural and Small Libraries in half-day workshop on how to “Team Up with Your Community”
Research on how to partner with Recreation and Park Agencies presented at the conferences of both the North Carolina Library Association and the North Carolina Recreation and Park Association.
Fall 2021 – Research presented at New Librarianship Symposia.
November 2021 – Invited keynote presentation at Umatilla County (Oregon) Special Library District on topic of “Making a Difference in the Community’s Health” Download presentation.
February 2022 – Research published in the Journal of Library Outreach and Engagement
March 2022 – Research presented at the Society for Public Health Education Virtual Conference
March 2022 – Research presented at League of American Bicyclists Annual Summit. Watch presentation.
August 2022 – Community conversation convened by Nebraska Library Commission.
February 2023 – Invited participant in EDGE Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.
April 2023 – Cultivating the Relationship Driven Library Event online event and toolkit launch.
July 2023 – Funded part of project ends, but the work continues!
PEOPLE
HEAL at the Library is by Dr. Noah Lenstra, MLS, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The project is actively supported by Graduate Research Assistants pursuing their Master’s of Library & Information Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The project is guided by an Advisory Board that includes:
Dr. Carolyn Cannuscio – Director of Research and Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Public Health Initiatives
Dr. Aaron Hipp – Associate Professor of Community Health and Sustainability at the North Carolina State University’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Dr. Bharat Mehra – Professor, EBSCO Endowed Chair in Social Justice in the University of Alabama’s College of Communication & Information Sciences
Jessica Stroope – Research Associate in the Louisiana State University Cooperative Extension Service
Monica Lopez Magee – Director, Cities and Nature at Children & Nature Network
Tony Nguyen – Executive Director of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Region 1
Jenn Carson – Director of the L.P. Fisher Public Library (Woodstock, New Brunswick), author and expert on physical literacy in the public library
Kendra Morgan – OCLC/WebJunction Senior Program Manager and WebJunction lead on Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities project