Public Libraries and the Opioid Crisis, Part 1: Context and Commitment

ABSTRACT

Public libraries have been significantly affected by the opioid crisis. The fact that patrons can enter libraries freely and do not need a reason to be there has resulted in overdoses occurring in many such buildings throughout the country. In response to this, library directors have developed plans of action that, in some cases, include training librarians to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone. This present article – the first in a two-part study – is based on interviews with representatives from libraries that have been significantly affected by the opioid crisis. After describing these community circumstances, the authors analyze various ways that each library has prepared to respond to overdoses and other emergency situations.

KEYWORDS:

• Public libraries
• opioids
• opioid dependency
• Narcan

Notes

1. All population density estimates are based on 2010 Census data for the corresponding cities or municipalities in which the libraries are located, combined with publicly available information about the locations’ square miles. These calculations do not consider varying population densities for different areas of larger cities, not do they account for libraries in suburban and rural areas having service areas that expand beyond the locale in which they are located.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brian Real

Dr. Brian Real is an Assistant Professor in the Information and Library Science Department at Southern Connecticut State University. He holds a PhD in Information Studies and an MLIS from the University of Maryland. His research is split between analyses of the modern social impact of public libraries and the historical impact of federal policy on film preservation. Dr. Real has published in The Moving Image, Library Quarterly, Public Library Quarterly, and Information Technology and Libraries. He is also the author of the ALA report Rural Libraries in the United States: Recent Strides, Future Possibilities, and Meeting Community Needs and editor of the book Rural and Small Public Libraries: Challenges and Opportunities, both published in 2017.

Gayle Bogel

Dr. Gayle Bogel is an Associate Professor in the Information and Library Science Department at Southern Connecticut State University. She holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Information Science from the University of North Texas, an MLS from Southern Connecticut State University, and an MA in Education from Sacred Heart University. Dr. Bogel has served on the state executive boards of the Connecticut Library Association, the Connecticut Association of School Librarians, and the Connecticut Library Consortium. She is former editor of Knowledge Quest, the national journal of the American Association of School Librarians, and a former writer-reviewer for the open access journal Evidence Based Library and Information Practice. Her current research interests focus on the pedagogy of online teaching and learning, and the intersection of service learning and professional ethics in library and information science.