The mission of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) is to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals equal access to biomedical information and by improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The Program is coordinated by the National Library of Medicine and carried out through a nationwide network of health science libraries, public Libraries, and information centers. Under contract with NLM, Regional Medical Libraries continue their efforts strengthen the Network to reach underserved health professionals in rural and inner city areas, public health professionals, and special populations. NNLM members work with a variety of intermediaries, including health care providers, public health professionals, public librarians, educators, community organizations, health advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, and self-help groups, to reach members of the public. The Regional Medical Library for Region 7 is the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. Region 7 members include Resource Libraries, hospital and academic libraries, and public libraries, Community and Faith Based Organizations, Public Health and Medical, and K-12 organizations across all seven states served. The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School’s Lamar Soutter Library, as the NNLM R7 develops mission-responsive programs built upon the following principles:
A participatory approach to reformulating the Regional Advisory Council that reflects upon the dynamic forces in health care to develop programs that work towards changing the role and perceptions of the health information provider
Leveraging the limited resources of Network members, library associations, health care agencies, and other collaborators to provide a continuum of activities that achieve common programmatic goals
A theme-based funding structure for projects that employ innovative practices in outreach that address our thematic focused areas: E-science, Health Information Technology/Electronic Medical Record; Healthcare Workforce; Health Literacy; and Healthy Communities
A flexible design of training opportunities that employ in-person and distance-based instructional sessions for librarians, health care professionals, and consumers
Continuous monitoring, tracking, and evaluation of progress using the logic model and process map methodologies that help measure successful goals towards meeting outcomes.
