Community Outreach

Throughout my residency, I was able to draw upon my experiences in K-12 schools, public libraries, non-profit organizations, and government agencies, and my undergraduate and graduate coursework to aid the Community Outreach Librarian support school libraries at numerous public schools across the City of Philadelphia.

During this time, the Biomedical Library partnered with the School of Nursing and the Free Library of Philadelphia to apply for a National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) Office grant to establish health corners, physical spaces dedicated to health information seeking behaviors within select public libraries in West Philadelphia. Later in my residency, I became involved in learning about this initiative.

School Libraries

In Spring 2016, I visited Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia to read to kindergarten students. In Summer 2016, I cataloged books in school libraries. In Fall 2016, I also co-led an information literacy library session for West Philadelphia High School students visiting Penn Libraries.

As the 2017 Special Libraries Association (SLA) Philadelphia Chapter Community Outreach Chair, I invited the Community Outreach Librarian from Penn to the SLA Philadelphia Chapter Annual Banquet to discuss the importance of keeping school libraries functional; shortly afterwards, SLA Philadelphia Chapter members rallied around the cause of supporting school libraries and started a book drive to support school libraries that are supported by Penn Libraries and the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children.

In my new position as the Community Health & Engineering Librarian, I provided health literacy materials to Mastbaum, a vocational high school with a nursing program. I continued to support the SLA Philadelphia Chapter School Libraries Book Drive, as its 2018 Coordinator (a role within the Community Outreach Committee) and its 2019 Community Outreach Coordinator (a new consolidated role within the Programming Committee).

Health Literacy

In late 2016 through present, I started visiting branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia and Sayre Health Center to discuss consumer health programs and ways to partner with the Biomedical Library to encourage health information seeking behaviors within the City of Philadelphia. In 2017, I formally joined the Penn Libraries Community Outreach Team and led the development of the Community Health Outreach LibGuide.

In June 2017, the Undergraduate Nursing Liaison Librarian and I designed a health literacy course comprised of four two-hour lesson plans and geared towards adults.

Course Outline:

    • Lesson 1: Introduction to Health Literacy

    • Lesson 2: Evaluating Health Information with a focus on Wikipedia

    • Lesson 3: Engage For Health with MedlinePlus

    • Lesson 4: Evaluating Health Apps

In Summer 2017, I visited medical libraries that serve patients, caregivers, and/or the public to see how I can support health literacy initiatives throughout the City of Philadelphia.

Throughout October 2017, I tweeted about #healthliteracymonth highlighting the Biomedical Library's Community Health Outreach Initiatives and free online health information resources.

In my new role as the Community Health & Engineering Librarian, I spend up to 20% of my time supporting Community Health Outreach Initiatives. Opportunities have expanded several new on-campus partnerships.