Member Spotlight: Sal Filosa and the Port Jefferson Free Library

Posted by benniefinch on October 23rd, 2023 Posted in: Blog, Member Spotlight
Tags: Consumer Health Information Specialization, New York, public libraries

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Tell us about your position and library

Sal recently transitioned to a new position as Head of Teen and Technical Services. The Teen Center, a very popular and thriving department, is housed in a separate building across the street. Their programming is in such demand that spaces are limited and typically, they have to close the space to those who are not part of the program. Port Jefferson Free Library is in the process of renovating a different space which will become the new home of the Teen Center in a few years.

 

 

Port Jefferson Free Library is a busy library in a port town, which is now a thriving tourist area on the north shore of Long Island, New York, along the Long Island Sound. Established in 1908 in a rented space, the current library building was built in 1924 on the same site. It has been added to over the years, with many renovations, but the original building has been preserved and maintains a look similar to the 1930’s.  They also have the original painted sign with the library hours displayed in the library as well as the names of those who worked so hard to found the library.

 

How have you been involved with supporting health in your community?

Sal Filosa has been working in support of health for many years at the Port Jefferson Free Library, serving on numerous committees and community partnerships. Sal holds the CHIS Level 1 (Consumer Health Information Specialization) and has been interested in consumer health since taking a consumer health class with Mary Westermann during his graduate program at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at Long Island University.  Want to learn more about the Consumer Health Information Specialization?

Sal mentioned that there are great health care resources in the area and several important collaborations which support health, with many local health care providers serving on these partnerships.

Sal served as the chair and co -chair of the Suffolk County Library Association Health Concerns Committee for many years. The committee has provided professional development and libguides on health topics with up-to-date resources. He also sat on the Long Island Library Resource Council (LILRC) Health Sciences Information Committee as the first and only public library representative. This committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Hospital Library Services Program and other programs that impact librarians. This committee provides continuing education, training, and professional development for health sciences librarians, stimulate progress in resource sharing and interlibrary cooperation, and encourage collaboration through shared resources such as databases and technology.

This partnership also helped Sal to make the connection with the Stony Brook University Health Sciences Library (HSL) leading to an NNLM funded project to provide programming within the library. This partnership between Stony Brook University Librarians and the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, developed a program called “What the Health?” ,  a train the trainer model to teach library staff to use NLM products. The three sessions were very popular, with a total of 27 different librarians attending at least 1 class in the workshop series. These librarians came from 20 different public library branches across Suffolk County, representing nearly one-third of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System member libraries. This also supported the relationship in which Stony Brook HSL serves as a resource for consumer health reference questions that are more in depth from the public library.

Near the entrance of the library, there are several health-related resource flyers available. One is a paper flier with a list of health information resources provided through the library including NLM’s MedlinePlus. Another is a bookmark called “Tough Topics” with call numbers for library resources on topics such as anxiety and depression to fertility, but also an invitation to ask the librarians for help locating resources. On the back there is a list of hotlines, from emergency services to national helplines to local resources.

There is also a flier for another partnership between Stony Brook University and the Suffolk Cooperative Library System called Healthy Libraries. This resource connects patrons with health information and assistance from public health, nursing, or social work students.  In addition to these resources, the Port Jefferson Free Library Board had also recommended and funded a library social worker to support patrons. These library initiatives and partnerships in support of health are exciting to learn about.

 

What is your favorite NLM resource?

MedlinePlus – it’s a “trusted resource” “don’t need to worry” “a go to”

How does the NNLM help you do your work?

Knowing that NNLM is there. The training available is very helpful. Inspired by some of the resources, Sal has supported collection development and collection management related to health information.

 

What is one word to describe NNLM?

Connected

What is one of the coolest things about your library?

The Games and Gadgets collection. Port Jefferson Free Library has board games and puzzles, a Cricut Mug Press, leak detectors, numerous outdoor games, blood pressure kits, an overhead projector, and many more interesting and wonderful items for loaning. Another cool thing Sal mentioned is that the Games and Gadget collection is an extension of their library programming. For example, they offer classes and projects using the Cricut and then patrons can borrow one to extend their learning. Same with ukuleles – they periodically hold classes on playing the ukulele and then offer them to check out. Some of the other cool gadgets I noticed were a turntable near the vinyl record collection, birthday lawn signs, hotspots, sewing machines, and much much more. Want to get inspired? Check out their games and gadgets catalog

 

Thanks so much to Sal Filosa for the inspiring work in the community and for the tour of the library!