Growing Region 5, One Member at a Time

Posted by Kathryn Vela on March 24th, 2026 Posted in: News from NNLM Region 5
Tags: academic libraries, CHES, Community College Libraries, community-based organizations, conference, continuing education, Medical Library Association, membership, MLA, National Library of Medicine, nlm, NNLM Membership, Public Libraries, University Libraries

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One of our goals for this grant cycle was to add 100 new members to Region 5. Thanks to the outreach efforts of our Region 5 team, we surpassed this goal by adding 115 new members (as of March 2026).

Over the last five years, the benefits of NNLM membership have included:

• Opportunities to apply for funding to support health outreach projects,
• Free registration for virtual training opportunities,
• Sponsored specializations in consumer health, disaster information, or data services from the Medical Library Association (MLA),
• Continuing Education credit from the Medical Library Association (MLA), nursing CEN, or Contact Hours for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES),
• Requesting an NLM Traveling Exhibition to visit your library or organization, and
• Free information materials mailed directly to you!

The Region 5 team engaged in multiple types of outreach efforts over the last five years, including exhibiting and presenting at conferences, email campaigns to potential member groups, and consistent social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Our goal is to highlight the benefits of NNLM membership and to encourage new and potential members to share the high-quality health information resources provided by the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

If you are interested in becoming a NNLM member and taking advantage of these many free benefits, check out our membership page!