Analyzing Public Libraries as Civic Agents in Advocating for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake

ABSTRACT

To examine how public libraries combated COVID-19 misinformation and promoted vaccination in their communities, this study analyzed data from 80 libraries’ webpages, Facebook postings, shared health information resources to examine the correlation between community factors, information types, and vaccination rates. Results showed city size and number of MLS librarians significantly affected information shared. Six information types contributed to higher vaccination rates: vaccination event information, local organization partnerships, vaccine information, library events, vaccine accessibility discussions, and free clinic time frames. Public libraries can thus serve as essential civic agents for promoting evidence-based health information and increasing vaccination rates.

KEYWORDS:

• Public libraries
• COVID-19
• misinformation
• consumer health
• vaccination
• civic agents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jinxuan Ma

Jinxuan Ma is an associate professor in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. Her major research and teaching interests focus on health-related information-seeking behavior, associated with the effects of contextual factors. One of her recent research projects is to explore how the ways that people communicate, seek and use information would contribute to vaccine hesitancy or refusal.

Ting Wang

Ting Wang is a lecturer in Library and Information Management at Emporia State University (Emporia, KS, USA). Her research interests include the provision of health information and the integration of instructional technology.

Brady Lund

Brady Lund is an assistant professor of information science at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA. He received his Ph.D. in information management from Emporia State University. His research aims to understand and address important issues at the intersection of information, data, and people, and to promote ethical and responsible practices in these fields, with a particular emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion and international development.