Brought to you by the Hospital Library Services Program (HLSP). This is a Newsletter for the Health Science Librarians, HLSP Liaisons, and Health Care Providers in South Central New York State.
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Hello everyone, and welcome to the Spring 2023 edition of HLSP News. I'm enjoying the warmer temps, the longer days and the new flowers blooming every day and I hope you are too.
As we watch nature revive itself once again, HLSP News brings your attention to a new and exciting SCRLC program this Spring. We will be launching a lunch and learn series on health and wellness topics. For more details, please see below.
As I write this volume of HLSP News, we finally received word that there is a New York State budget agreement, and the details will become clear over the next couple of months. What we do know now is that the budget total for all Councils is unchanged from last year. We will keep you updated as we learn more about the budget details and how libraries (especially hospital libraries) are impacted. Keep in mind that though opportunities to advocate for this year's budget are over, there are always opportunities to advocate for libraries and more ideas on how to stay engaged are outlined below.
This volume of HLSP News also provides an update about SCRLC's Telehealth Kits; Spring health observances; continuing education webinars; and the New England Journal of Medicine subscription as well as a reminder about the SCRLC HLSP Grant program.
If you have any questions about the SCRLC, HLSP or anything in this volume of HLSP News, please email me at cbrown@scrlc.org. And if you would like to stay informed about HLSP news in between the quarterly editions, please submit a request to join our HLSP listserv.
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SCRLC's New Lunch And Learn Series |
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We are launching a new Lunch and Learn series that will focus on healthcare issues and topics that impact hospital libraries. Our first session will be held on June 7th at 11:00 via Zoom and Matthew Roslund, Medical Librarian at Bassett Medical Center in Oneonta, will tell us about how he became a medical librarian and what he does in his current position. He will also share some tips that liaisons can use to improve library services for their providers.
We recognize that hospital library workers often wear multiple hats in addition to their library duties and the library functions may be only tangentially related to the other duties. This new series will focus on health topics relevant to hospital liaisons and librarians alike. HLSP members will also have an opportunity to network with librarians and library liaisons at other hospitals in our district as well as librarians in non-medical libraries including public libraries, academic libraries and school libraries.
Registration for this Lunch and Learn is available at our website. Please contact cbrown@scrlc.org if you have any questions, thoughts or comments about the Health and Wellness Lunch and Learn series or about the June 7th program.
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Spring Health Observances
There are numerous diseases and other health conditions that are observed through designated days, weeks and months with the designation providing an opportunity for learning about and advocating for a specific disease or health condition. Below are a few monthly observances for May, June and July.
May is also Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month - The CDC recognizes Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month in May, and their webpage includes a link to the Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation's page where there are lists of actions/activities to participate in during the month of May that will raise awareness of osteoporosis. Items on the list include: a social media toolkit, a digital calendar, presentations, a podcast, support groups, a patient registry and videos.
June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month - Each June the Alzheimer’s Association recognizes Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month as a time to focus national attention on Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. During the month of June, the Alzheimer's Association encourages people to explore the Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Aging resource page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and to use the CDC's easy-to-understand MyHealthFinder resource on healthy aging that provides tips that adults can use to protect their brain health as they grow older. Anyone interested in national efforts aimed at improving health and quality of life for people with dementia, including Alzheimer’s, can check out the Healthy People 2030 Dementia objectives.
For additional information on these and other awareness months, weeks and days, please visit the HealthFinder.gov list of National Health Observances and take steps to raise awareness of health and wellness issues.
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Here's a reminder about the 19 Telehealth Kits that SCRLC provided to 19 public libraries in our region. The kits are designed to help community members who would otherwise be unable to connect with their healthcare providers or to participate in support groups and can be checked out from the library or used onsite. Each kit contains a Chromebook, mouse, hotspot, and headset. And because not every household has paper and pens on hand, notepads and pens were included. Finally, a user survey and information about accessing MedlinePlus are also included in each kit.
We have developed flyers about the telehealth kits that are targeted to providers that can be shared with hospital providers (including nursing staff) and with health care provider networks that are located near the libraries that received the kits. There is a general flyer with a list of all the libraries that received the kits and there are specific flyers for each of the 12 HLSP members in the SCLRC District. Please reach out to Christine for any flyers you would like so you can share it with your providers.
Here is a list of the libraries that received the SCRLC telehealth kits and the village/town the library is located in if it's not clear from the name:
- Sidney Memorial Public Library
- Stamford Village Library
- Village Library of Cooperstown
- Your Home Public Library (Johnson City)
- Huntington Memorial Library (Oneonta)
- Mary Wilcox Memorial Library (Whitney Point)
- Dundee Library
- Steele Memorial Library, Chemung County Library District
- Watkins Glen Library
- Dormann Library (Bath)
- Friendship Free Library
- Whitesville Library
- Springport Free Library (Union Springs)
- Weedsport Library
- Cortland Free Library
- Edith B Ford Memorial Library
- Dryden Library
- Candor Library
- Groton Public Library
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New England Journal of Medicine
A Benefit of SCRLC Membership
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As you probably already know, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has long been recognized worldwide as an important source of the latest medical information including peer-reviewed research, literature reviews, and clinical trial information.
One of the benefits of being a member of SCRLC's HLSP program is assistance with accessing medical journal subscriptions. And SCRLC pays for the entire subscription cost of NEJM for all member hospitals and their providers. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this benefit.
This Winter, we noticed that not all HLSP members take advantage of this SCRLC membership benefit. If your providers are not currently taking advantage of the NEJM subscription, please let them know that they can access it. And if you or your providers, aren't sure how to access NEJM, please reach out to cbrown@scrlc.org so we can work out any access issues.
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Advocacy
The New York State budget is done for this year though we still don't know how the nine Empire State Library Network (ESLN) Councils (including SCRLC) fared in the end. We will learn more details in the coming weeks, and we'll be able to provide information about the budget in our next edition of HLSP News. What we know now is that our funding is flat--which is a decrease due to inflation and rising costs--but we do not know the details. Changes in the number of acute care hospital beds across the region and state impact HLSP funding. Populations served by tribal libraries (increasing or decreasing) also have an impact.
There are many ways we can advocate for the value of our libraries and library services in the hospital environment throughout the year, and there are many resources for engaging in advocacy activities. We know that some organizations do not allow advocacy and so we want everyone to know that SCRLC advocates on behalf of all members. We encourage everyone (unless not allowed to do so) to continue advocating for libraries beyond the budget time period by following some of the suggestions outlined here.
SCRLC
Check out our LibGuide on Advocacy that includes links to resources that are helpful for developing an advocacy plan along with information about contacting your local legislators, advocating on social media and the value of libraries.
New York Library Association (NYLA)
February 28th was Library Advocacy Day and meetings were held virtually and in person. There were other opportunities to participate including working as a social media advocate and submitting letters and emails to elected officials. NYLA has an Advocacy Center and information about it are available on their website.
The Medical Library Association (MLA)
As noted in our Winter HLSP newsletter, MLA offers an Advocacy Libguide for new and seasoned hospital librarians to provide information and resources for advocating for their libraries. MLA membership is not required to access this Libguide and we encourage everyone to view this information because advocacy can be an important part of maintaining and even building on the library presence in hospitals.
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We are nearing the end of the current fiscal year (which is June 30) and it is final report time for the HLSP Grant program. We anticipate that most of you followed the proposal submitted last Summer though variations from the proposal are allowed.
As a reminder, the funds must be used for hospital library items and services that are available to all users of the hospital library system. The program is designed to enhance hospital libraries and not to supplement resources of an individual. So, the funds can be used to purchase an item(s) (such as a book(s)) or to pay for a library service such as ClinicalKey as long as the item(s) or subscription(s) are available in the same way using the same processes and procedures that are used for other library items. Likewise, HLSP grant funds may be used for a subscription to an electronic journal when the journal is available to all of those who have access to other library materials. Please let Christine know if there are any questions about use of the funds.
We are asking that the final reports for the HLSP grant program be submitted in May so that we can include the information on our reporting to the State Library and so that we can address any questions that members may have about the program. If you have any questions about the final report, please let Christine know.
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Continuing Education
Upcoming Webinars
SCRLC has the following programs planned for May:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Series - On May 11th and May 22nd, we will hold a two day workshop to help libraries address DEI matters. The first session will focus both on the concepts surrounding DEI and DEI-related concepts of identity and culture and on the importance of cultural competence as it applies to both individuals and Library Information Organizations (LIOs) as workplaces. The second session will build upon the introduction provided by Dr. Bright's May 11 webinar and cover DEI assessment approaches for Library and Information Organizations (LIOs). To register for either or both of these sessions, please visit our May Events webpage. As a SCRLC member, your library will be able to apply for grant funding for consulting with Dr. Bright--but you must attend or subsequently view the webinars. If you have any questions about the workshops or the grant program, please let Christine know.
SCRLC has the following programs planned for June:
June 5th and 12th - Trauma Informed Librarianship in conjunction with NNLM and Lorin Jackson. Traumatic events are commonplace today. In the first webinar on June 5th, you'll learn more about what being more trauma-informed in library services can mean for library users and gain a more robust understanding of trauma and what trauma-informed librarianship is in public libraries. Through interactive activities, you'll explore trauma-informed micro strategies and begin to develop your trauma-informed style of working with patrons. In the second webinar on June 12th, we will explore what being trauma-informed asks of library workers, what challenges it brings, and how we can begin to address those challenges by reframing them as opportunities to become stronger library workers. You'll gain an enhanced understanding of how being trauma-informed works in public library spaces for employees. By diving into real examples and sharing your concerns, we will collaborate to bring more clarity and support to growing new challenges about confronting trauma in the library workplace. Please visit our June Events webpage to register for either or both of these programs.
The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) is offering the following FREE CE classes which are scheduled to take place in May, June and July of this year:
This class will explain the basics of evidence-based public health (EBPH) and highlight essentials of the EBPH process such as identifying the problem, forming a question, searching the literature, and evaluating the intervention. The purpose of this class is to provide an introduction to the world of evidence based public health and to give those already familiar with EBPH useful information that can be applied in their practices. May 25 at 1:00.
Discussions of health literacy and health misinformation frequently focus on the analysis and fact-checking of written materials. However, research has shown that visuals can be even more convincing than text-based information and can shape how text-based information is perceived. Identifying misleading visualizations and imagery is therefore a vital skill for navigating the current health information landscape. This interactive session will illustrate the pervasive nature of this issue and introduce attendees to a wide range of deceptive visual communications ranging from misleading graphs to manipulated images in scientific publications to AI-generated deepfakes. Attendees will gain confidence in analyzing various types of visual information and leave the session with practical ideas for incorporating these skills into programming in a variety of contexts.
June 20 at 2:00.
It has been over 1 year since the U.S. Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade. Abortion is now illegal in a significant portion of the country. What does this mean for information access? This webinar will discuss reproductive health as an information access concern, introduce the Reproductive Justice framework, and offer ideas for how libraries can provide create environments that are supportive of sexual and reproductive health information. July 18 at 1:00
The Medical Library Association (MLA) is offering the following CE classes which are scheduled to take place in May, June and July of this year:
If you work on a systematic review team or plan to, you’ll want to know three important things: the essential features of a systematic review (SR), how SRs differ from other review types, and how to determine if an SR on a topic is needed. Webinar will be held May 25, 2023.
Do you want to build teams that respect the individuality and identity of all its members? Inclusive team-based leadership can help you develop and lead teams that communicate and collaborate respectfully and get work done! Live webinar to be held on June 13.
If you want to peer review systematic reviews, improve your work as a peer reviewer, enhance the quality of reviews you work on, or critically appraise the quality of reviews you read and use, this webinar is for you. Live webinar to be held on June 28.
NOTE: There is a charge for each MLA CE class with a discounted price for members.
Recently Recorded Webinars:
In August, SCRLC offered an NLM webinar on the topic of Trauma Informed Librarianship and seats remain available. Please reach out to Christine for to access this webinar at no charge.
Here are a few recorded webinars that NNLM presented recently:
This tutorial takes about 1 hour to complete. (1 CE credit)
Additional resources include recording of past webinars, which can be found here.
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Information Help
Do you need assistance finding credible health and medical information online? A journal article? Whether it is for patient care, research, or education, we offer an array of resources and assistance to obtain the items you need.
Please contact:
Christine Brown, Outreach Services Librarian
South Central Regional Library Council
cbrown@scrlc.org
or to learn more visit our
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