Health Information on the Go: Reaching 95 Populations by Bookmobile

The Columbia County Traveling Library is working toward doing more community outreach in partnership with area agencies. We hope to outfit our new bookmobile as a mobile classroom that would help us provide outreach and education for the 95 populations we serve, which experience significant health and economic disparities. We already reach more than 500 regular patrons at 49 bookmobile stops. We plan to engage them at this point of contact by offering semi-formal tablet-based trainings on how to use tablets and how to access quality online health information. A tablet-lending program will increase digital literacy as part of this initiative. These encounters will develop interest in formal health information literacy training on the mobile classroom as a part of a community health fair, which would include nutrition and fitness training offered by community partners. Our goals are to create awareness about MedlinePlus and other quality consumer health information resources, increase their use, and connect people to local resources and services which will improve health and quality of life.