As communities across the country experience the impact of the opioid epidemic, public library staff are finding themselves on the front line of this public health crisis. How should libraries engage? Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Epidemic with Their Community is an IMLS-funded project led by OCLC and PLA to expand libraries’ capacity to support their communities. The project studied a diverse set of communities where the library is an active partner in addressing the epidemic and facilitated discussions with library leaders and a range of government, public health, and community organizations. Presenters will share insights gained from the case studies and emerging practices, opportunities, and challenges, and share resources to help library staff guide their libraries’ response to the opioid crisis. This is the first in a series of webinars on this topic, highlighting the project findings.

Presented by: Lynn Silipigni Connaway, OCLC; Michelle Jeske, Denver Public Library; Marion Rorke, Denver Dept of Public Health and Environment; Larra Clark, Deputy Director, Public Library Association; and Kendra Morgan, WebJunction

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Related Resources and Links

• Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities, project page
• Publications
  • Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities: Summary Report (October 2019)
    A summary of the research findings from the eight case studies.
  • Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities: Case Studies (October 2019)
    Eight research-based case studies that explore how libraries and their partners are working together to respond to the opioid crisis.
    
  • Denver Public Library: Opioid Response Profile (July 2019)
    As part of the research phase of the project, the research protocol was pre-tested with the Denver Public Library and a profile of their partnerships and activities was created.
    
  • Public libraries respond to the opioid crisis in collaboration with their communities: An introduction (Spring 2019)
    Project researcher Lynn Connaway and Michele Coleman provide an introduction to the project research in the journal of Collaborative Librarianship.
• Facebook group, Libraries and the Opioid Crisis
• Additional links shared in chat:
  • New York State Library, Guidance for Implementing Opioid Overdose Prevention Measures in Public Libraries
  • Blount County Library Offers Life Skills Training to Participants in Recovery Court
  • Chesterfield County Public Library (VA), video describing library responses with community partners, and they also make medication disposal available in multiple locations including the library
    
  • HHS Office of Minority Health is hosting a series of webinars. The first available is: Advocating for Prevention in Communities of Color: The Role of Providers Amid the Opioid Crisis (May 2019)
  • More information about Deterra bags: https://deterrasystem.com/
  • More information about using Collective Impact in your community
  • Salt Lake City campaign, Use Only as Directed
  • Video highlighting Denver's Peer Navigators
  • CDC has some customizable resources