My Spring Practicum with Region 5

Posted by Liz Morris on June 20th, 2023 Posted in: Education, Library staff

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Guest post submitted by Carlette D. Dennis, NLM Associate Fellow 2022-23

The home of Grunge, Starbucks, and Region 5 of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), these are just some reasons why I was so excited to visit Seattle for my Spring Practicum as a ’22-’23 National Library of Medicine (NLM) Associate Fellow. The NLM Associate Fellowship Program is a one-year postgraduate training fellowship, which is designed to provide a broad foundation in health sciences information services and to prepare librarians for future leadership roles in health sciences libraries and in health services research. The Spring practicum is an opportunity for a fellow to visit a health sciences library of their choosing that will meet the fellow’s learning goals.

I had the pleasure of being introduced to the NNLM in August of 2022; there, I learned about their goals for advancing the progress of medicine and improving public health by providing training, resources, and grants to public libraries and health professionals.

My appreciation for the work that NNLM does comes from my ten years of working for a public library system, specifically with adult programming. I had the pleasure of working with several organizations and seeing how organizations like NNLM can help support the “on-the-ground” work that public librarians deal with daily. It is inspiring to know that this organization provides needed resources to assist in correcting health misinformation to the public through the individuals that the public has grown to trust and rely on to provide accurate information and resources.

I contacted the University of Washington’s Health Sciences Library, which serves as the Regional Medical Library (RML) for Region 5, with the goal of learning more about the Network, Region 5’s current programs, and speaking with a few partner libraries. During my visit, I met with the director and manager of the Sno-Isle Library system, the older adult librarian of Seattle Public Library’s Central Library, and a recipient of an NNLM grant from Springfield Public Library. In addition to learning about the amazing work being accomplished by these library systems, I also got to tour the brand-new Li Lu Library, Suzzallo Library, and Allen Library on UW’s campus, where all my Hogwarts dreams came true as I stood underneath the blooming cherry blossom trees. I was also delighted to learn about and spend some time with a member of the Redundant, Obsolete, and Transitory (ROT Squad) of Records Management Services.

I appreciated gaining knowledge about and visiting the Tulalip tribal land, while also getting to experience the natural beauty of Marysville, WA. I also spent time learning the health sciences collection and Region 5’s Diverse Voices in Health & Medicine Collections Toolkit.

My visit helped intensify my passion for supporting public service workers. As a fellow, I am currently working on two projects. One is with the national NNLM office, on the Bridging the Digital Divide initiative and the other is a part of the national All of Us research program, which I hope to continue contributing to beyond my one-year fellowship appointment. These projects help to contribute to the strategic initiatives of the NLM and its programs.

I am honored to be asked to contribute this post to Region 5’s blog. I am profoundly grateful and inspired by the work that NNLM is doing in both Region 5 and in the other regions of the country. Seattle, I will be back!