Reading is Healthy! Introducing the NNLM Reading Club

Posted by Michele Spatz on November 1st, 2018 Posted in: All of Us, Blog, Health Literacy, Health Observances, Public Libraries
Tags: book club kit, health literacy, public library, reading club

---

Book Clubs or reading groups are a staple of library outreach and literacy efforts. People gather to discuss Oprah’s picks or the New York Times’ Best Sellers to socially engage with literature and current events.

To help grow health literacy, the NNLM All of Us Community Engagement Network announces the launch of the NNLM Reading Club. The goal is to support libraries’ health literacy efforts and address local communities’ health information needs by celebrating important National Health Observances through the fun and intimacy of a book club.

The NNLM Reading Club offers a selection of three different book titles along with corresponding free,
ready-to-use, downloadable materials designed to help promote and facilitate a book club discussion on a health issue or topic. It’s easy to download the ready-to-use book club discussion materials and direct patrons to the library’s book holdings.

However, the NNLM is offering an added benefit. Beginning November 1st, participating NNLM libraries are making the quarterly Reading Club picks available in a free, handy, portable Book Club Kit. This program-in-a-box format includes 8 copies of each of the following items: the selected book, discussion guide, MedlinePlus flyer, NIH MedlinePlus Magazine, NIH All of Us Research Program brochure and additional material in support of the health topic all of which are tucked inside a handy library book bag and mailed to the requesting library.

Any U.S. library, which is an organizational member of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, is eligible to apply and to receive one NNLM Reading Club Book Kit from November 1, 2018 through April 30, 2019. Priority is given to those libraries who intend to use the Book Club Kit in their outreach to vulnerable communities.

Visit the NNLM Reading Club page to browse the November selections and download the ready-to-use materials, or to order an NNLM Book Club Kit from a participating region.