Holyoke Consumer Health Library, Inc.

City of Holyoke: Links to Holyoke-specific information and health services

Libraries in Holyoke, Massachusetts

• The Holyoke Public Library, 335 Maple Street, 322-5640, has health-related books in Spanish and English, computers for Internet access, and free access to Health Reference Center (database). You can search the library catalog via C-W MARS catalog; select "Keyword" search, change Location from "Any" to "Holyoke", and type in the words you wish to search.
• The Holyoke Consumer Health Library is a virtual information service that operates via this website. We have also helped create small health reference collections in several Holyoke sites and trained the staff to search for reliable health information. For example, Holyoke Health Center, Providence Prenatal Center, Holyoke Teen Center, the Council on Aging/Senior Center, and the Holyoke Public Library. Our former "pilot" library at Nuestras Raices closed in spring 2005. During summer 2006 we offered service in a booth at the Holyoke Farmers' Market every Thursday afternoon, supported by a grant from the National Library of Medicine.
• Caregiver Resource Library at the Holyoke Council on Aging, 310 Appleton St., 322-5625. In the basement of the War Memorial Building.
• Family Resource Center at the Children's Museum at Holyoke, 444 Dwight St. 536-KIDS. A small library with computer access and books on children's growth and development.
• Holyoke Medical Center has a Medical Library (not open to the public, but the medical librarian there has offered reference backup for our project).
• Holyoke Community College Library, 303 Homestead Avenue, 552-2424.
• Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities Library, 489 Whitney Ave, Holyoke (south of the Mall). Library provides books, videos, curricula and other materials on prevention-related topics, including substance abuse, violence prevention, tobacco, media literacy, health and nutrition, body image, and parenting. Designed for prevention workers (educators, school health personnel, human services and health care providers, etc.) but open to public and resources may be borrowed free of charge. Call ahead (413/540-0600 x0 ) to be sure the library is open.

Library links and resources beyond Holyoke

• Ask a Librarian! public service of UMass-Amherst and the Boston Library Consortium (includes 24/7 chat reference).
• Western Massachusetts Regional Library System (WMRLS) including 24-HOUR LIBRARY SERVICE: Database Access From Your Home or Office Connect to http://www.mlin.lib.ma.us/cgi-bin/remote.pl and enter your public library card number.
• Public libraries of Central and Western Massachusetts (C/W MARS Member Libraries)
• MassCat a catalog of holdings in a variety of small libraries in Massachusetts, including over 20 medical libraries
• National Library of Medicine - world's largest medical library.
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM)
• UMass Amherst Digital Library

Networks of Health Librarians

• Massachusetts Health Sciences Library Network (MAHSLIN)
• North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries, Inc. (NAHSL)
• Western Massachusetts Health Information Consortium (WMHIC), an organization of medical and health librarians from area hospitals and colleges. WMHIC members meet quarterly.