Library Improvement Program Goal

• To promote excellence in health care decision making by fostering library and information services in hospitals that do not have active libraries or whose libraries need strengthening.

Eligibility

Candidates for the Library Improvement Program must meet the following criteria:

1. A minimum collection of 10 current journal titles and 25 monographs, with 50% of the latter published in the last 10 years.
2. At least one salaried employee dedicated to library work for at least 10 hours per week.
3. A minimum of 120 square feet dedicated to library space accessible to hospital staff.
4. A dedicated phone line.
5. At least one computer with an Internet connection, a printer, and ongoing technical support from the hospital's IT department.
6. Willingness to sign an agreement with the Regional Medical Library and to submit quarterly reports.
7. The following services, if not currently offered, must be implemented within 60 days of the start of a library improvement program.
   1. Reference services
   2. Access to photocopy services
   3. DOCLINE/ILL (see the DOCLINE Eligibility Guidelines)
   4. Medical literature searching through PubMed.

Application Process

Hospitals and/or hospital libraries interested in applying for an award from the Library Improvement Program should contact the Library Network Coordinator or the RML Associate Director. Each applicant will need to develop a proposal and indicate how the funding will be used. Funding may be used for equipment in addition to the computing equipment already provided by the hospital, travel for training, travel for visits with libraries in similar institutions, etc.

Resources for Libraries Interested in the Library Improvement Program

Regional Medical Library staff will provide:

• Individualized DOCLINE training using Breeze web conferencing software and telephone communication (see Test Breeze Connection)
• Initial entry of DOCLINE serials holdings.
• Provide introductions to neighboring libraries and those geographically remote but similar in scope or content.
• Advice on training opportunities for hospital library staff.

Period of Performance and Reports

Projects should be completed within 12 months of project award. Quarterly progress reports are required. The fourth quarterly report concentrates on the fourth quarter, but includes the entire span of the project and serves as the final report. Updated Quarterly Guidelines will be available soon.

Evaluation

The success of the Library Improvement Program will be evaluated at the end of the program year as well as at the end of the 2006-2011 RML contract. Evaluation will focus on: barriers to implementing hospital library services, impact of access to hospital library services, whether or not hospital library services continued to be offered, and how those services changed over time.