Press Release

Grant from the National Library of Medicine Funds Consumer Health Information Service at The New York Public Library's Branches

June 17, 1999, New York City: The National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, has given a $450,000 grant to The New York Public Library to expand its Community Health Onsite Information Centers (CHOICES). The grant funds half of the project's total budget, funding from other sources will enable The New York Public Library to fully implement CHOICES over the next three years.

CHOICES was established in 1998 as a pilot project in the Upper East Side region of Manhattan, creating a comprehensive consumer health information service to help people find answers and information on questions relating to health and medicine. Through CHOICES, library staff are able to provide reliable and up-to-date health information on a variety of topics.

With this Information Systems Grant from the National Library of Medicine, The New York Public Library will implement CHOICES in new sites and provide three Senior Reference Librarian positions for health information (one each in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx). This is the first time that the National Library of Medicine has funded a program to provide consumer health information, underscoring the demand for consumer level information in public libraries.

Beginning with the Morrisania Branch in the South Bronx, the Jefferson Market Regional Branch in the West Village, and the New Dorp Regional Branch in Staten Island, CHOICES staff will build health information collections and assess the health infomation needs of those specific communities. Moving from region to region over the next three years, the CHOICES Senior Librarians will be responsible for setting up new CHOICES sites for New Yorkers of all ages and educational backgrounds, and looking at both traditional and innovative ways to serve their needs. CHOICES will enhance branch library collections, providing traditional references sources, World Wide Web sites, materials for children and teens, materials in Spanish and other languages, as well as materials for those of limited reading abilities, including books on tape and video recordings.

Free public programs will be another important objective for CHOICES, hosting lectures and panels in the branches, as well as reaching out to other health organizations, neighborhood agencies, hospitals, and schools. CHOICES will also offer training opportunities and workshops for library staff to assure that they have the skills needed to assist patrons with health inquiries.

CHOICES has been made possible, in part, by the generous support of The Charles A. Dana Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Frederic S. Nathan, Pfizer Inc., the Cordelia Corporation, and the Sergei S. Zlinkoff Fund for Medical Research and Education.

The New York Public Library operates 85 branches and four research centers in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Visit the CHOICES website at http:/www.nypl.org/branch/health

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