{"id":15957,"date":"2024-03-04T10:59:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T16:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_6\/?p=15957"},"modified":"2024-03-04T11:37:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T17:37:57","slug":"le-mars-public-library-is-making-an-impact-on-community-health-thanks-to-nnlm-book-discussions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_6\/2024\/03\/le-mars-public-library-is-making-an-impact-on-community-health-thanks-to-nnlm-book-discussions\/","title":{"rendered":"Le Mars Public Library is Making an Impact on Community Health Thanks to NNLM Book Discussions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NNLM Book Discussion program offers librarians, health professionals, and public health workers a unique opportunity to explore health issues affecting their communities while enhancing their health information services and outreach.<\/p>\n

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We recently received feedback about the direct impact of participating in these discussions on health information outreach in public libraries. Shirley Taylor, Library Director of Le Mars Public Library in Iowa, shares her experience:<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to say that I really loved the book club discussion on Palaces for the People.\u00a0 This book & discussion re-energized me to serve our community. It was important for me to think about library services as social infrastructure and key factors in resilience and quality of life for a community.\u00a0 \u00a0As a result of the class, our library is doing a 10-week Beat the Blues challenge to help everyone learn strategies for getting through the long winter months.\u00a0 As part of this program I have been writing a newspaper article every week in which I have been promoting Medlinplus.gov.\u00a0 That is such a great resource!\u00a0 \u00a0 Our library also added light therapy lights for check-out so people could try one to see this would help them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Participants in Beat the Blues engage in small challenges each week, earning punches on their punch cards for small prizes. For the activities, Shirley utilized resources from NIH and MedlinePlus, such as Get Excited About the Brain<\/a> and Practicing Gratitude Ways to Improve Positivity<\/a>. In addition, Shirley contributes a weekly article to the local newspaper, featuring health information about combating the winter blues and highlighting resources like MedlinePlus. Many of these insightful articles are on the Le Mars Public Library\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>. Shirley says, \u201cMedlinePlus had so many great articles\u00a0and handouts for our topics!\u00a0 And so many of them were available in Spanish!!\u201d<\/p>\n

The small weekly challenges were:<\/p>\n