Library Joy & Community Health: Public Health Needs to Spend More Time in Public Libraries

Public health should be spending a lot more time in public libraries.  We should double our time spent working alongside, planning with, and learning from our library colleagues.  

Maybe I’m biased.  Most don’t know that my first real paycheck came from the local library, where I worked as a page in high school.  Even back in the 90s, the job wasn't just about shelving books and shushing visitors. It was a front-row seat to the diversity of the community—a place every person could belong. Still, libraries probably didn’t seem exciting in those days.  Fast forward to 2024 and the “Library Joy” movement of social media darling and self-proclaimed book-pusher, Mychal Threets. Libraries are having a bit of a moment.  As a public health guy, I think we should seize this moment for innovation and collaboration between public libraries and public health.

Public libraries have a rare ability to serve diverse communities without being weighed down by legacies of mistrust—a feat most hospitals, clinics, and government agencies can only envy. This is gold for public health efforts, especially when trying to reach those communities most difficult to engage.

I stumbled onto this gold in our recent local work around overdose prevention.  A library-adjacent meeting space was the incubator for developing our county-wide strategic plan for responding to the crisis in our rural community.  It would be easy to overlook the role of the meeting location, but I think it was crucial.  Here we had a convening space that was as friendly to the unhoused as to our local physicians, to our pastors and also our concerned citizens who are substance users.  

And it’s a win-win.  More than offering value to public health, collaboration on community health could aid in the dynamic reinvention of libraries, who have spent the last couple of decades conquering digital challenges and are now reimagining their brick-and-mortar role in a society where accessing books and media doesn't actually require a library visit.  

I know this is not a new concept.  But, it deserves more of our attention.  At the latest conference of the American Public Health Association, out of the nearly 6,000 abstracts presented (oral & poster), only four explored this potential collaboration between public health and public libraries.  (I’ve posted them below.)  

Let’s keep libraries at the forefront.  Think health fairs that actually work, workshops that people might actually attend, and support groups that feel more like meetups. Plus, consider the potential integration of tech infrastructure that could even be developed into telehealth or telepsych and a myriad of other innovative approaches to expanding access (particularly for rural communities).

Of course, there are no magic panaceas in public health, but libraries should be a bigger part of our thinking. We all know the future of public health isn't in hospitals and clinics.  I’d suggest we start spending a lot more time at our local libraries. 

Healthy communities, healthy libraries…there is a lot of untapped potential here.

Below are abstracts from APHA 2023 that highlight the potential value of public libraries:

https://apha.confex.com/apha/2023/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/537564

https://apha.confex.com/apha/2023/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/535684

https://apha.confex.com/apha/2023/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/529579

https://apha.confex.com/apha/2023/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/527178