Promoting Individual and Community Health at Your Library

Finding accurate and reliable medical information can be a daunting task for the general public. Keeping abreast of the latest trends and maintaining fluency with the literature can also be frustrating for librarians. With this well-researched selection, Flaherty (Sch. of Information & Lib. Science, Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) discusses how libraries historically provided consumer health information and programs, then examines current practices related to maintaining consumer health collections, partnering with local organizations to improve community health, and ethically answering health-related reference questions. Brief essays by a variety of professionals on related topics (serving patrons with mental illness, the media coverage of Ebola) enhance the volume, but their placement frequently interrupts the flow of the text. The chapters on health programming and working with community organizations are packed with specific ideas public librarians can easily adapt to their own institutions. A section on reliable information on nontraditional medicine would have strengthened the work.