NNLM Region 5 Membership: Colleges and Universities

Posted by Emily Hamstra on October 7th, 2025 Posted in: Blog
Tags: NNLM Membership

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This is the second post in a 4-part series on membership in NNLM Region 5.

What is Membership?

Membership in the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) is an opportunity to connect with regional NNLM staff and other member organizations who share in the goal of improving access to health information. Membership is open to all institutions or organizations who share the work of NNLM’s mission. Membership is free and allows member organizations to apply for funding from their NNLM region. All members are listed in the Membership Directory. The membership directory lists all member organizations across the country, and those members are managed regionally.

The NNLM includes 8,816 members across 50 states and U.S. Territories. Of those, 809 organizations are located in NNLM Region 5.

NNLM Region 5 Membership: Colleges and Universities

Colleges and Universities are a cornerstone of Region 5’s membership. Region 5 members include 40 Academic Health Sciences Libraries, 40 Colleges or Universities, 45 College or University Libraries, 52 Community Colleges, and 16 Community College Libraries.

 

Funding, Training, and Other Resources

Between 2021 and 2025, NNLM Region 5 funded 56 awards to college and university members, totaling nearly $460,000. These awards funded a wide range of programming, training, library collection development, and professional development opportunities, including:

• A multi-year funding agreement to the University of Alaska Anchorage Medical Library to improve the quality of life and health for Alaska’s citizens by providing information outreach services to the healthcare workforce and to public libraries, especially in rural areas, over a five-year period from May 2021 through April 2026.
• An Outreach & Engagement Award to California State University, Chico to serve rural people in northern California by improving their access to medical information through trained community health navigators in rural remote areas on the use of MedlinePlus and other high quality, vetted, reliable health information resources.
• An Outreach & Engagement Award to the University of Washington, Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute to develop a free online resource of accurate, compassionate, and non-stigmatizing images to be used in outreach and educational work for use in health information about substance use disorders for a range of audiences, including information about harm reduction, treatment, prevention, and recovery for researchers, health care providers, the public health and addiction workforces, and the general public.
• A Data Engagement Award to the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Library for the development of a biomedical data management and data sharing course optimized for Hawaiʻi researchers and students, culminating in a live symposium.

Funding isn’t the only draw to membership for academic members, many participate in DOCLINE, NLM’s interlibrary loan routing service, and register for NNLM’s classes and webinars. Many of NNLM’s classes and webinars provide credit towards specializations offered by the Medical Library Association, such as the Data Services Specialization (and NNLM will sponsor the application fee!).

If you have ideas for NNLM Region 5’s outreach, programming, training, and funding opportunities for colleges and universities, please leave a comment in the NNLM Region 5’s Suggestion Box.