Background
Public librarians often address patron inquiries regarding health concerns. However, prior research indicates that public librarians may be unprepared to meet the health information requests of patrons.
Objective
This study examined the availability of health‐themed courses in American Library Association (ALA) accredited Master of Library and Information Studies/Science (MLIS) programs.
Methods
Accredited MLIS programs were identified using the ALA directory. Curricula were reviewed for health content and public librarianship, children's, and young adult concentrations. Descriptive and bivariate analyses assessed the percent of programs that offered various health‐related course content and the differences in availability of such content.
Results
Of the 59 accredited MLIS programs, only 35 (59.32%) listed at least one health elective and none listed a required health course. No MLIS programs that had a public library concentration (n = 21) listed a required or elective health course, two programs with a children's concentration (n = 25) listed health course electives, and one program with a young adult concentration (n = 25) listed a health course elective.
Conclusion
ALA‐accredited MLIS programs should consider increasing their offerings or requiring health‐related courses to improve the training of public librarians to meet the health information needs of communities.
The Stony Brook Medicine Healthy Libraries Program (HeLP) is an interprofessional team-based experiential learning opportunity for health professional students. University faculty members in the fields of nursing, public health, social work, and library science collaborated with four suburban public library directors to design, implement, and evaluate a team-based interprofessional service-learning experience, in which supervised students engaged in health monitoring and promotion in the library setting. Participating students were enrolled in either a semester-long population health course ( n = 16), a Master of Social Work fieldwork internship ( n = 2), a Master of Library Science internship ( n = 1), or a Master of Public Health practicum ( n = 2). HeLP faculty educated students on content, library culture, communication, professional roles/responsibilities, and documentation using standardized data collection tools. Concurrently, the interprofessional student teams delivered resources to patrons 1 day a week, with alternating locations, for a minimum of 2 hours per visit over the course of 6 weeks. HeLP provided students with an opportunity to apply core competencies based on the Interprofessional Education Collaborative. The team-based approach fostered interprofessional learning, as students worked together to assist library patrons on health and social needs. Throughout the program’s duration, students documented the type of resources provided, the types of encounters between team members, and the number of referrals. Student learning was assessed after program completion using three open-ended reflection questions.
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