Librarian by Day

I haven’t blogged in so long that just the idea of writing something felt overwhelming. But the best way to start is to begin. Last July I shared that I had taken a position at the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Region office at the University of Iowa. I’ve spent the last 6 plus months getting on board and immersing myself in the research and reports surrounding public libraries and the health and health literacy of the communities they serve.  Like digital literacy before it, I feel compelled to start sharing what I have learned and what I know.

I’ve also reached out to people I have worked with in the past on various committees related to digital literacy to talk about health and public libraries. There seems to be less interest in health-related programs and outreach than digital stuff. Because this is my jam now, I’ll be sharing some of what I learn along with other things I’m interested in on this blog. Some of it will be new, some of it will have been around for awhile, but we all need a refresher sometimes, and it is externally September.

Because so much health information is online and both digital literacy and health literacy include other forms of literacy such as basic literacy, there is a good deal of overlap with some of my old resources. It has been fun going back through those resources with a fresh eye. This is part of an infographic I’m working in Canva (so easy!) with just a little of what I’ve learned. 🙂

1 Office of Disease Prevention and Health. (2010). National action plan to improve health literacy. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services.
2. Fox, S., & Duggan, M., (2013) Online Health 2012. Pew Research Center
3. Bertot, J. C., Mcdermott, A., Lincoln, R., Real, B., & Peterson, K. (2012). Public Library Funding and Technology Access Survey : Survey Findings and Results. College Park, MD.
4. Bertot, J. C., Mcdermott, A., Lincoln, R., Real, B., & Peterson, K. (2012). Public Library Funding and Technology Access Survey : Survey Findings and Results. College Park, MD.