The Penn Libraries announce the appointment of Barbara Cavanaugh to the position of Associate Director for the Health Sciences Libraries and Director of the Biomedical Library, effective April 1. Her responsibilities include leadership of the Biomedical Library and oversight of the operations of the Dental and Veterinary School Libraries. She will play a key role in re-imagining Biomedical Library spaces and services in support of the joint renovation planning efforts between the Penn Libraries and the School of Medicine.

Ms. Cavanaugh has more than 25 years of medical library experience. She began her career at Pennsylvania Hospital Medical Library, Historic Library, and Archives. She also ran the School of Nursing and Medical Staff Libraries at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. Ms. Cavanaugh came to Penn in 1993 as the Health Sciences Libraries Liaison.

In 2001, Ms. Cavanaugh was promoted to head of Veterinary Libraries. In 2003 she was a recipient of the Veterinary Medical Student Government’s Commendation Award for Excellence in Teaching. As head of the Veterinary Libraries, she played a pivotal role in the planning and development of the School’s new, cutting-edge facility, the Steven W. Atwood Library & Information Commons, in the School’s new Vernon & Shirley Hill Pavilion.

“We are delighted to have Barbara in this major leadership role. Her experience with the Atwood Library will be invaluable as we re-envision the facilities and redefine the services offered by Penn’s Health Sciences Libraries in response to the Medical School’s planned renovations,” said Carton Rogers, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries.

Ms. Cavanaugh is a member of the Medical Library Association, and is currently involved in a project funded by the Elsevier Foundation to support the information, healthcare, and medical education needs of Penn programs in Botswana. She has a BA from Temple University and an MS in Library and Information Science from Drexel University.

The Literacy Volunteers of New Jersey (http://lvnj.homestead.com/) announce New Jersey’s first statewide health literacy summit. The summit is scheduled for April 3 at the Enterprise Center, Mount Laurel, NJ. An agenda and a registration form are available here.

Transformational Change in Health Sciences Libraries: Space, Collections, Roles

The one day conference will be held on April 2, 2009 at the University Conference Center on the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine Campus. Pat Thibodeau, Associate Dean of Library Services, Duke University Medical Center Library, will present the keynote address focusing on changes in health sciences libraries, the implications for librarian roles, and the need to transform skill sets.

Julie Poletta, Architect, Radelet McCarthy Incorporated, will speak about re-purposing library space for alternative uses.

Two panel discussions will address models and best practices in libraries’ reduction of print collection, models and best practices in libraries’ reduction of space and/or re-purposing of existing space, emerging roles and identities of librarians in the changing physical environment, and best practices in adjusting traditional library roles and services. A breakout session will follow each panel discussion.

Five scholarships of up to $1,000 will be awarded. The scholarship will cover conference and travel costs.

For more information and to Register: http://www.hmc.psu.edu/library/conferences/SpacePlanning.htm

Registration deadline is March 18, 2009. Spots are limited so register early.

NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region is pleased to announce three new affiliate members to our region.

The Elbridge Free Library (Elbridge, NY) is part of Onondaga County Public Library and was ranked by HAPLR as one of the best library’s of its size. The library provides reference services, literacy programs, books, magazines, and videos and is interested in increasing the amount of health information it provides to the community.

The Spalding Memorial Library (Athens, PA) is located on a historic plot between the Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers and shares its building with a local museum. The library provides services for all ages, including literacy programs and computer classes.

The Greater Canonsburg Public Library (Canonsburg, PA) provides services for adults, youth, and seniors. The library is currently raising funds for a new, expanded main library.

Please join us in welcoming these libraries to our region.  We look forward to partnering with them to help create a health information community in the Middle Atlantic Region.

NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region is pleased to announce five new affiliate members to our region.

Cohocton Public Library (Cohocton, NY) is part of the Southern Tier Library System. The mission of the Cohocton Public Library is to enhance the quality of life in a small, rural community by providing access to cultural, educational, and recreational materials in various formats and for all ages.

Monroe Township Public Library (Monroe Township, NJ) is located in a sprawling, suburban/semi-rural community in the southernmost part of Middlesex County, NJ. Its significant demographic characteristic is the presence of two large distinct populations: young families with pre-school and school age children, and older adults, most of whom live in the six pre-retirement and retirement communities located in the Township. The library is already planning summer health information courses for their community.

Plattsburgh Public Library (Plattsburgh, NY) saw an increase in circulation of over 3.5% in just the past year. Their active friends group and events calendar keep the library as an active member of the community.

Micro Tech Training Center Library (Belleville, NJ) is a professional health care and security industry training institute supporting programs in massage therapy, surgical technicians, medical assistants and more.

Plainfield Public Library (Plainfield, NJ) just celebrated their first community health fair in May. The library hosted the NN/LM as an exhibitor at this weekend event that brought together community partners, health professionals, and members of the public.

Please join us in welcoming these libraries to our region!

On November 30^th at the John Ammon Center for Medical Education – Christiana Hospital, the Academy hosted a well-attended meeting to kick-off the first-ever strategic planning process for medical libraries in Delaware. Funded by the Delaware Division of Libraries, the Academy will play a key role in the development of the plan. Himmel & Associates, consultants, is conducting the six month hospital library analysis and the firm has a history in assisting with other State Library efforts in recent years. According to PJ Grier, an Academy director, “this is a first, for such collaboration with the State Library”.

Annie Norman – Director & State Librarian, Delaware Division of Libraries

The meeting focused on opening remarks by Annie Norman, State Librarian. Annie’s goal is to improve all multi-type library services, so that they set the standards for the nation. She said the State will use the outcomes from the plan as a foundation for important agenda-setting with the next State administration. Additionally, the outcomes will be blended with current results contained in the State Library’s overall environmental plan, which comprises public, academic and special libraries.

Next, there was brief discussion and consensus around the currently “perceived” sustainability levels of the four areas on medical librarianship: hospital-based clinical information delivery (60%), consumer health information delivery (50%), public health information delivery (10%) and virtual resources. In closing, the consultant conducted a highly participatory SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis and the results can be found at the following link: http://www.libraryconsultant.com/DelawareMedicalSWOT.htm.

Seated from left: Christine Chastian-Warheit – Director, Medical Libraries, Christiana Care; Meg Ward – Librarian, Delaware Academy of Medicine; Linda Leonard – Consumer Health Librarian, Delaware Academy of Medicine; Patty Hartmannsgruber – Consumer Health Librarian, Delaware Academy of Medicine; Nadine Pieniaszek, Librarian – Bayhealth; Rosemary Figorito – Librarian, St Francis Hospital.

Standing from left: PJ Grier – Director, Delaware Academy of Medicine; Susanne Ingle – Librarian, Delaware Division of Substance Abuse & Mental Health; Susan LaValley – Consumer Health Librarian, Delaware Academy of Medicine; Lynne Joshi – Librarian, AI duPont Hospital; Eileen Vaughn – Librarian, Beebe School of Nursing; Jean Winstead – Librarian, Beebe Medical Center; Robb Mackes – Electronic Resources Librarian - Delaware Academy of Medicine

People attending represented a broad spectrum of constituent organizations. The meeting also offered a rare opportunity to bring together all hospital and consumer health information professionals; they are pictured above.

Immediate next steps will involve the formation of a small steering committee, benchmarking, and extensive outreach to user communities and other stakeholders. The consultant is expected to have the Strategic Plan completed by July 2008.

Spanish Language Materials Book Fair

Here is an excellent opportunity for librarians and educators to purchase Spanish language materials for adults, teens, and children!

FREE ADMISSION!

Date: March 7, 2008
Time: 10:00AM to 4:00 PM
Where: The Newark Public Library
5 Washington St.
Newark, NJ 07101-0630

For Directions go to:

http://www.npl.org/Pages/AboutLibrary/directions.html

For parking information go to:

http://www.npl.org/Pages/AboutLibrary/directions.html#parking

Please send an email to lromerobpl@yahoo.com to confirm your attendance.

EVENT SCHEDULE & LOCATION:

10:00 AM Librarian’s orientation—Auditorium (4th Floor)
10:00 AM-4:00PM Book Fair—Centennial Hall (2nd floor)

For more information please contact:

Libbhy Romero
E-mail: lromerobpl@yahoo.com
Phone: 718-230-2435

On Wednesday, October 24th, the Middle Atlantic Region sent over 340 hospital librarians an e-mail message encouraging them to talk with their hospital administrators about MLA’s Health Information Literacy Survey for Hospital Administrators and Health Care.

The Medical Library Association (MLA) in cooperation with the American Hospital Association (AHA) Society for Health Care Advocacy (SHCA) has distributed a Web-based Health Information Literacy Survey to hospital administrators and health care providers throughout the country. The survey will help ascertain administrators’ and health care providers’ awareness and understanding of health information literacy, its value in support of patient care, and the role that librarians and libraries can play in promoting health information literacy. The survey was developed in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine, TAP Consulting, an outside research firm, and MLA’s Health Information Literacy Project Coordinator, Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi.

A non-active copy of the survey is available for review at <http://www.zhost.com/mla/adminLong1.html>

The overall goal of the MLA research project is to increase awareness of health care providers’ knowledge of health information literacy issues as well as the NLM tools and resources for increasing health literacy levels that are available to them and their patients. For an overview of the full project, visit <http://www.mlanet.org/resources/healthlit/hil_project_overview.html>.

If you have questions or need further information, please contact project coordinator Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi, sabrina_kurtz-rossi@comcast.net.

Consumers often visit the public library to find health information. How do public librarians meet consumer health information needs? Delaware librarians have medical library expertise right in their own buildings, thanks to Delaware Consumer Health Information Services (DCHIS, http://www.healthyde.org), a program funded by Delaware Health and Social Services’ Division of Public Health and administered by the Delaware Academy of Medicine. DCHIS was established in 2003 and now covers Kent County, Sussex County, and New Castle County. Recently Arpita Bose, NN/LM MAR Outreach and Communications Coordinator, interviewed the DCHIS librarians, Patty Hartmannsgruber, Linda Leonard, and Susan LaValley, about their unique role as medical librarians in public libraries.

What do you do at DCHIS?

We are each stationed at a host public library: Patty is in Kent County at Dover Public Library; Linda is in Sussex County at Rehoboth Beach Public Library; and Susan is in New Castle County at Bear Public Library. Our duties include collection development, staffing the public reference desk, and programming.

What kinds of health programs do you present?

We have facilitated programs on diabetes and nutrition, homeopathy, and complementary medicine. One of the programs was called Facts Versus Quacks; it focused on evaluating health information web sites. We present the programs ourselves, or we have expert speakers lead the programs. Our events happen inside the library and also outside the library, at senior centers, for instance.

What other projects do you do?

We are responsible for Go Local Delaware, which links MedlinePlus with local resources in the state. Patty has also started to prepare a binder of consumer health resources along with sample questions that patrons might ask. Other public librarians will be able to refer to this binder when they receive consumer health inquiries.

What is the best part of your job at DCHIS?

We enjoy working with the public. This program gives us the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of activities, and we have the freedom to be creative about collection development and programming. We enjoy going outside the library to spread the word about consumer health. We attend senior expos, women’s health fairs, Spanish language health fairs, and alternative health expos. The public librarians in our branches also appreciate knowing that we are there to answer complex consumer health information questions.

What’s next for DCHIS?

We are rethinking our image to give us more name recognition in the public libraries. We are planning a name change, logo change, and branding for ourselves. We have become involved with a coalition of health educators and plan to ask them about marketing strategies for our services.

For more information about DCHIS, visit their web site, Healthy DE.

Would you like your library to be featured In the Region? Contact Arpita Bose (arpita.bose@library.med.nyu.edu) for more information.

Delaware Consumer Health Information Services Librarians (from left): Susan LaValley, Linda Leonard, Patty Hartmannsgruber. Not pictured: PJ Grier, Director of Library and Information Services, Lewis B. Flinn Library, Delaware Academy of Medicine

We are pleased to announce the National Medical Librarians Month 2007 featured librarians from the Middle Atlantic Region:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/lo/profiles07/mar.html

You can also learn what your colleagues around the country are doing for National Medical Librarians Month 2007:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/lo/profiles07/