A Health Library for Holyoke, MA

For an overview of the original health library project and vision, see our historic Outline. What progress have we made towards implementation? Here are some informal notes about activities and developments:

For earlier history, see Progress reports, July - December 2000 | Progress Reports, January -June 2001 | Progress reports, June - December 2001 |

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Progress reports, January 2002 - June 2002

1/9/02
The Holyoke Consumer Health Library planning group met at the Holyoke Public Library. Minutes in progress. Discussion of our mission. Whether our mission focuses more on "library" or "information" is a point that surfaced in this meeting. Sandy later compiled a collection of our various "vision" or "purpose" or "mission" statements (and some suggested alternatives), so we can continue this discussion Jan 16.

1/9/02
We're on the verge of scheduling our first workshops. Javier Crespo, Consumer Health Information Coordinator, Regional Medical Library--New England Region, UMass Medical School, will come to Holyoke to teach how to find and evaluate health information via the Internet. He and Sandy propose that the first workshop be for our volunteer group, and be during one of our regular meeting times in either Feb or March. 2nd Wed? 3rd Wed? On the day he comes, he'll repeat the workshop morning and afternoon, increasing the chance that most people can attend.

Funding opportunity: Javier suggested the Frank Stanley Beveridge Foundation because it targets our county and funds many health programs. Deadline = Feb 1, or Aug 1. Heather and Sandy read the fine print and decided no, not unless tied to a bigger project. Daniel Ross decided yes; he and Sandy set Jan 15 meeting to plan an application for completing construction of Nuestras Raices' Centro Agricola project, which includes an "agricultural, environmental, and health resource library." Daniel sent a preliminary inquiry to Beveridge, to see if he'll be invited to do a full application. This would provide helpful seed money for our pilot library (collection and parttime librarian) within Centro Agricola.

1/11-14/02
Possible new collaboration: 15 students in a Mt Holyoke seminar on "Poverty in the U.S." will be doing projects in Holyoke this spring related to food stamps, nutrition, and health. John Fox, the instructor, intends to have the students work with the Holyoke Health Center. HHC staff told him about our project, so he contacted Sandy, who provided information about our project, the city of Holyoke, resources at the public library, the city planning dept (for city maps), and various websites.

1/14/02
Another workshop offer: Polly P. offers to train volunteers to facilitate our planning meetings. She will facilitate the Jan 16 meeting.

1/14-16/02
Sandy spent several hours revising these webpages and creating new ones. For instance, splitting this Progress Report page (which had become too long) into segments, and gathering mission statements onto a new page. Additional hours preparing news report (sent via email to our list), and agenda for Jan 16.

1/15/02
Sandy met with Daniel Ross at Nuestras Raices to plan Beveridge Foundation application. The library room is now brightly painted, electrical outlets and track lighting have been installed, and heating units. Floor covering still needed. Later, the Beveridge Foundation invited NR to submit a full application, which Daniel did in late January.

1/16/02
We met at Holyoke Public Library. Eight attendees. Polly Prunuske facilitated. Sandra Lawson took minutes. We discussed a specific grant application process and identified steps we'd need to take before submitting a strong application. We decided that more preparation was required, so we'll aim for May rather than Feb deadline.. We'll be able to plan free workshops in the meantime. A subcommittee will work on designing a user survey which we'll test Feb 20 as we attend a workshop taught by the NER Consumer Health Information Coordinator. (We'll be the "consumers" in this workshop, and fill out the surveys ourselves, as a test of the survey instrument.) We also reviewed possible domain names for our website, and asked Sandy to investigate a new one: holyokesalud.info. We want to convey the idea of information, rather than the idea of an organization. Draft of Minutes.

1/24/02

Jayme, Doris, and Sandy met with S.C.O.R.E. volunteers and a Holyoke accountant about how to manage our financial record-keeping.

2/19/02

Polly Prunuske informed Sandy that the draft of the user survey which Polly and Jayme had circulated to selected people was drawing helpful feedback. It needs more work. We need to be clearer about what we are asking. Sandy and Polly decided not to use the draft in its present form for the Feb 20 workshop.

2/20/02
Wednesday, February 20, Workshop with guest instructor: Javier Crespo, Consumer Health Information Coordinator, New England Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NER NN/LM). Location: Holyoke Community College, Donahue building, Library Room 303. Our planning group invited Javier Crespo to Holyoke to talk with us about how people search for health information and how we might help them. He demonstrated and discussed selected websites and databases, including MedlinePlus. He offered the workshop at 10-11:30 am and 1:00 - 2:30 pm (repeat).

In the future, we hope to plan a series of Health Information Searching workshops tailored for specific audiences in Holyoke. If you have suggestions, or would like to host a workshop in your agency or neighborhood, let us know. Email Sandy Ward. Thanks.

2/20/02
Site visit at Nuestras Raices by two representatives of S F Beveridge Foundation. Daniel Ross gave tour. Sandy Ward attended.

3/5/02
Sandy attended Holyoke CHNA meeting.

3/20/02
HCHL, Inc. meeting at Nuestras Raices, 1:00-2:30pm. Snowstorm outside. Young green plants growing in greenhouse inside. The library space is brightly painted; heating units, electrical outlets, and lights have been installed. Daniel says that carpeting will soon be added. The space may be ready in June. We (HCHL) discussed and listed tasks that will need to be accomplished in preparing to open this pilot library. The next few months will be busy!

3/22/02
Sandy attended a reception launching the American Cancer Society's Wellness Link at the Holyoke Health Center. Photos.

4/2/02
Sandy attended Holyoke CHNA meeting and gave a brief update about our project.

4/3/02
Sandy attended the Community Health Service Award Luncheon sponsored by the 4 for CHNA Communities CHNA (Community Health Network Area for Holyoke, Chicopee, Westfield, Ludlow & Hilltowns). Maritza Smidy, Chair of the Holyoke CHNA, spoke about the projects in Holyoke, and mentioned the consumer health library first.

4/5/02
Collection Development Committee meeting, Holyoke Public Library, 8:40am-10am.

4/16/02
HCHL, Inc. meeting at Nuestras Raices, 9:00-10:30am.

4/24/02
Polly, Heather, and Sandy meet at City Hall Annex to draft a concise mission statement, and draft a list of the tasks for next six month.

4/26/02
Holyoke Health Center submits letter of intent to apply for NLM grant http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-LM-02-001.html. Deadline for Application is May 24. Sandy will meet with Jay Breines May 8 to discuss this project.

4/28/02
Website Committee meeting, Sunday afternoon, 4-6pm, at Sandy Ward's house. Jim Craig, Anita Smith, and Sandy sketched out ideas for a basic beginning website designed for the public (in contrast to this administrative website Sandy has been maintaining.) Anita will begin to set up the website. She will register holyokehealth.info as our domain name.

4/30/02
Sandy, Jim, and Chris attend all-day conference in Sturbridge. Consumer Health Information: Networking and Technology

5/3-4/02
American Cancer Society's 24-hr Relay for Life. Holyoke Health Center sponsored several teams. Mount Holyoke College students from John Fox's seminar formed the "Foxy Femmes" team. Sandy walked some laps.

5/8/02
Sandy met with Holyoke Health Center administrators (Jay Breines, Chris Lapon) and grant-writers (Trish Sarvelo, Lisa B.) to discuss possible projects.

5/8/02-5/12/02
Roberta Jayme Hannay, Treasurer, and Sandy met to prepare the Federal tax form (990) for our nonprofit corporation's 2001 fiscal year. Several days spent learning about the requirements and how to report our finances. Commonwealth Form PC (Public Charities) was mailed to the state 5/13/02. Both Jayme and Sandy retained copies. We did not need to file with the Feds because our income was below $25,000 -- in fact, it was below $1,000.

5/17/02
Jayme notified Sandy of receipt of a small grant from CIGNA to Mercy Women's Health Center. HCHL, Inc. was mentioned in the application as a partner. We will be responsible for Internet training sessions for pregnant and parenting teens.

5/22/02
Monthly meeting of HCHL, Inc., at Nuestras Raices. Minutes. Daniel Ross announced that the Frank Stanley Beveridge Foundation will grant $10,000 to Nuestras Raices for completion of the Centro Agricola construction, including $2,000 for the health library collection. This wonderful news is somewhat offset by the fact that the "community librarian" position requested in the same grant application will not be funded. We'll need to recruit a good team of volunteers. Heather agreed to undertake the volunteer recruiting and training; Jim Craig will also assist. The library space could be ready by August. The user survey should be ready for June 8 family health event at Holyoke High School; we'll need volunteers for that day, too.

5/24/02
Sandy spoke with Diane Lyons, Lower Pioneer Valley Prevention Center, about possible donations of used furniture (table, chairs, desk) for our library. Jeff Harness, Massachusetts Prevention Center of Western Massachusetts, encouraged us to investigate what we could use. We are all sad that the LPVPC is closing, but we appreciate the potential donations.

5/30/02
Sandy Ward drove to Springfield and picked up six boxes of books, videos, and pamplets from the Lower Pioneer Valley Prevention Center Resource Library. These had been set aside for us by Adrienne Racz, Resource Specialist, Massachusetts Prevention Center, Florence. In addition, Diane Lyons assisted Sandy in selecting many additional donations. Sandy measured furniture and confirmed which pieces to save for HCHL.

5/31/02
Spanish translation of our User Survey prepared. See revised English version and Spanish version.

6/26/02
The Holyoke Consumer Health Library planning group met 1:00-2:30 pm at Nuestras Raices, corner of Cabot and Main St, Holyoke. [Minutes taken by S Lawson, awaiting typing by S.Ward or another volunteer.]