The 2024 County Health Rankings report opens with a thought-provoking finding: “The healthiest counties, where people live long and well, have well-resourced civic infrastructure, including a more accessible information environment (local news outlets, broadband access, and public libraries), compared to counties among the least healthy.”
Resources like Richmond Public Library (RPL) and Henrico County Public Library (HCPL) are hubs for education and entertainment. As the County Health Rankings demonstrate, they also create healthier and more connected communities. National Library Week gives us an opportunity to celebrate that work! RPL East End Library/Community Services Manager Adam Zimmerli talked with RHHD about how he and his colleagues center community health in their library day-to-day. That includes helping patrons access a range of library resources and even training to use Narcan, an opioid reversal agent that can temporarily pause the effects of an overdose so that emergency services can arrive in time.
Librarians can help you make informed decisions about your health.
“When we talk about health, one of the biggest components is knowing how to find information. So many healthcare professionals have such a short window for each actual individual patient that folks come away with not a lot of direction. We’ve done trainings with VCU’s Health and Wellness Library—they’ve come out and talked to us about using Medline Plus for example, and finding reputable sources that are going to provide the best information.
And we know our collections. If you’re coming in and you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes and you want to know what to cook, we’ve got a bunch of cookbooks that are going to be appropriate for you. If you wanted to look at cookbooks for managing salt intake, heart healthy recipes. If you’re interested in exercise, we’ve got books on how to get started with running, weightlifting, whatever experience you’re looking for.”
Libraries create relationships with organizations and people.
“One of the best things about working in a small community branch is that we know just about every person who comes through the doors. It doesn’t take a long time for us to start to build that relationship. And so, as you get comfortable with each other, patrons will ask you all sorts of things. It gives you an opportunity to help guide people to services and resources that we offer and connecting them to partners as well. One of the joys about librarianship is that we deal with everything under the sun. People come through those doors with questions, everything from, “I need to fill out an RRHA voucher” to “I had a dream about blackbirds, what does that mean?” It’s the breadth and scope of the human experience.
From a health perspective, we’ve got our partnership with the American Heart Association and the blood pressure monitors within the libraries. At the East End, we’ve got Community Hospital and CAHN just down the street and Planned Parenthood and the VCU Health Hub a couple doors down. So there’s a lot of opportunity for connection.”
Librarians take on a lot of responsibility for keeping people safe.
“Overdoses and substance use challenges are something we know we’re going to have to deal with. Public libraries are really one of the last democratic bastions (with a lowercase d!). Where else can you go in this country where you’re not expected to buy anything to be there. It’s a cold place on a hot day, a warm place on a cold day, and everybody can walk through that door. It’s such an honor. It can also be a challenge—because our approach to working with the public has been open, responding to crises have become more and more the realm of the public library.
In 2018, RPL partnered with RHHD for Narcan training with all the branches. We now have a Life, Health, and Safety committee and one of the things we decided we needed to do was make sure people got re-upped on CPR training, AED training, Narcan, and basic first aid. I would rather have the knowledge and be able to help when help is needed than to not have it and need it.”
Adam says that if you want to support our public libraries and their mission, the most important thing you can do is show up: “Coming in through the doors helps our door count. Checking out a book helps our circulation. We are everybody’s tax dollars at work—you’re already paying for the service, but as a civic responsibility, help yourself to what we have to offer.” In addition to blood pressure monitoring and personalized book recommendations, he suggests checking out RPL’s access to Ancestry.com, classes on law, crafts, or business, and Kanopy—an online platform for film.
Finally, if you’re interested in learning how to use Narcan, RHHD offers virtual trainings every Tuesday at 6 p.m. and every Thursday at 1 p.m. Adam encourages people preparing to help in case of an overdose to be gentle with their own mental health—administering Narcan during an overdose can be an emotionally challenging but vital job: “I know that there are people walking around who wouldn’t be otherwise, without the training and without the access to Narcan. The police and the ambulance, they get here as soon as they can, but in that stop gap, that’s where you’re really filling in that critical role.”
