Hello from NNLM Region 5 Staff: Michele Spatz

Posted by Michele Spatz on August 5th, 2021 Posted in: News from NNLM Region 5
Tags: librarian roles, NNLM Region 5, NNLM Staff

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Hello everyone! My name is Michele Spatz. I am the Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) Region 5. My focus is to increase health literacy, digital literacy outreach and engagement through existing and new partnerships with libraries and community organizations. I chair the Region 5 Community Engagement Subcommittee, which is just getting under way. I also manage our funding awards.

Prior to joining NNLM, I spent much of my library career providing health information to the general public, patients and healthcare professionals in various roles as an academic health sciences library director and a consumer health library director. I was part of a team of consultants at an international nonprofit healthcare organization. As a health sciences librarian at a graduate school, I trained health professions’ students on different aspects of health literacy to improve their patient communication skills. Across my career, I’ve published and edited several books and many articles on consumer health information. My most recent publication is on the importance of earning the Consumer Health Information Specialization. In my various roles, I’ve always been a huge fan and promoter of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine’s health information website for the public, and PubMed, its searchable database of published clinical and research articles for health professionals, research scientists and interested members of the public.

I’m the proud mother of two daughters and sons-in-laws and the super-proud grandmother of Amelia, who is now 20 months old. Literacy lives in our family as my daughter and son-in-law started reading to Amelia soon after she was born; it’s a favorite thing to do when we’re together, too. I’m also mother to three fur-babies: Murphy Brown, a sweetheart Staffordshire Terrier, and two bonded-sibling ginger tabby cats named Livie and Blossom.

I live on a farm where my husband and I recently finished building a home. We did all of the interior and exterior finish work – painted, laid floors, reclaimed and refinished wood for all the window casings, installed tile in our kitchen and bath and so on. My friends tell me I should’ve had my own reality tv series on home construction! Maybe that will be my next gig!

I believe librarianship is a life of service. In that spirit, if I can help in any way, please reach out to me at mspatz@uw.edu. I and my colleagues at NNLM Region 5 are here for you!