Book Clubs or reading groups are a staple of library outreach and literacy efforts. People gather to discuss Oprah’s picks or the New York Times’ Best Sellers to socially engage with literature and current events. To help grow health literacy, the NNLM All of Us Community Engagement Network announces the launch of the NNLM Reading Club. The goal is to support libraries’ health literacy efforts and address local communities’ health information needs by celebrating important National Health Observances through the fun and intimacy of a book club.
The NNLM Reading Club offers a selection of three different book titles along with corresponding free, ready-to-use materials designed to help promote and facilitate a book club discussion on a health issue or topic.
It’s easy to download the ready-to-use book club discussion materials and direct patrons to the library’s book holdings. However, the NNLM is offering an added benefit. Beginning November 1st, participating NNLM libraries are making the quarterly Reading Club picks available in a free, handy, portable Book Club Kit.
This program-in-a-box format includes 8 copies of each of the following items: the selected book, discussion guide, MedlinePlus.gov flyer, NIH MedlinePlus Magazine, NIH All of Us Research Program brochure and additional material in support of the health topic all of which are tucked inside a handy library book bag and shipped to the requesting library.
Any U.S. library that is an organizational member of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine is eligible to apply and to receive one NNLM Reading Club Book Kit from November 1, 2018 through April 30, 2019. Due to the limited supply of federally-sponsored NNLM Reading Club Book Kits, libraries that support outreach to
vulnerable populations receive priority status.
Visit https://nnlm.gov/all-of-us/nnlm-reading-club to browse the November selections and download the ready-to-use materials or to order an NNLM Book Club Kit from a participating region.
Thanks to Darlene Kaskie for sharing this information. Darlene Kaskie, MLS, is the All of Us Community Engagement Coordinator for the Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM). She supports the mission of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to improve public access to consumer health information as well as the mission of the NIH All of Us Research Program to advance medicine and improve individual treatment, prevention, and care for all of us by inviting libraries to engage with the network, connecting them with health information community partners, and providing training and funding to help raise awareness of precision medicine. She has her Consumer Health Information Specialization from the Medical Library Association. You can contact her by email: darlene-kaskie@uiowa.edu
