Assessment of Library Services in Pediatric Hospitals in the United States and Canada

Abstract

This study reports on a 2022 survey of pediatric hospital librarians in the U.S. and Canada to assess the status of staffing, resources, and services in their libraries. The report compares the data against the MLA Hospital Library Caucus Standards (2022) and the Canadian Hospital Library Association Standards (2020). The report also provides a comparison of the libraries’ rankings using the Regional U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospitals and Magnet status. This approach is intended to determine how librarians and library services at hospitals that are recognized by the above programs differ from those that are not recognized.

Keywords:

• Accreditation
• hospital librarianship
• library services
• pediatric hospital libraries
• standards

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data associated with this article are available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/hpb5z/.

Additional information

Funding

The authors report no funding is associated with the work reported in this article.

Notes on contributors

Kate Daniels

Kate Daniels, MLIS, AHIP ([email protected]) is a Clinical Information Librarian at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Atlanta, GA.

Christine Willis

Christine Willis, MLIS, AHIP ([email protected]) is a Clinical Information Librarian at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Atlanta, GA.

Priscilla L. Stephenson

Priscilla L. Stephenson, MSLS, MSEd, AHIP, FMLA ([email protected]) is the Chief Library Service (Retired) at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, FL.

Brian L. Baker

Brian L. Baker, MLS, JD ([email protected]) is the Library Services Program Manager & Literacy Program Coordinator at Valley Children's Healthcare in Madera, CA.

Claudia Schuchardt-Peet

Claudia Schuchardt-Peet, MLIS, AHIP ([email protected]) is a Medical Librarian at Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, PA.

Amy Six-Means

Amy Six-Means, MLIS ([email protected]) is a Medical Librarian at Children’s Health in Dallas, TX.