Community Health in the Library CHIL

The Community Health in the Library CHIL: Reinvigorating Outreach at the UIC Crawford Library of the Health Sciences project will improve access to high quality, reliable health information for the city of Rockford, Illinois and the surrounding Winnebago County community. UICs Crawford Library of the Health Sciences, hereafter referred to as the Crawford Library, has had a long history of participating in community outreach, educating the community on the National Library Medicine NLM resources, and housing a Consumer Health Collection specifically for the community. However, in recent years due to financial uncertainty and budget reductions throughout the state of Illinois, the Crawford Library has not been able to support the Consumer Health Collection and outreach activities at the same levels. The CHIL project will reinvigorate the aging collection, the librarys presence in the community, and the communitys use of NLM resources. CHIL activities will include teaching workshops at community sites, purchasing print and audio/visual materials, hosting mini exhibits that feature the NLMs Online Exhibits, and generally promoting NLM resources and the Library. This reinvigoration of outreach at the Crawford Library will result in improved access to reliable health information for the public.