Pima County Public Libraries - Partners for Livable Communities

pimacountylibrary

For many counties throughout the United States, the public library system plays an important role in the community, serving as a center for social, cultural, and educational activity. These institutions have become especially important to the homeless and low-income families who may not be able to afford the amenities provided by the library. Pima County, Arizona’s public library system, however, began a program in 2010 that strives to serve another growing need that many communities throughout the country face – access to healthcare.

For years public library systems have provided health and wellness classes and some even keep social workers on site, but the Pima County Public Libraries are the first offer health screenings and medical advice from a certified nurse working onsite. Nurses travel between branches of the public libraries, where their services are advertised outside via sandwich board or poster. Most of those served by the nurses are homeless or unemployed, and thus uninsured. Many of them are addicts, who need health insurance the most but are either not able to afford coverage or denied flat out.

The program is a partnership between the library system and the Pima County Health Department, who jointly pay the roughly $70,000 a year to keep a nurse on the premises. Libraries are consistently effective disseminators of information, but what makes this program special is that the library is directly helping Pima County’s population and making sure the sick receive the treatment that they need. While the program is still in its early stages and the results and economic impacts are still being evaluated, it is clear that the public-health nurses in the library have already started serving an important purpose in the community.

For more information: http://www.library.pima.gov/about/