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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Weber County Library adds new resource for health issues
By JAMIE LAMPROSIf you've just been diagnosed with diabetes and don't know what to expect, you'll soon have a place to go that will answer all of your questions.
The Weber County Library's new Pleasant Valley Branch in Washington Terrace will be opening a consumer health collection early next spring. The collection will take up an entire section of the library to help educate the public about various health issues.
"Right now, there is no public consumer health library in Northern Utah," said Kathryn Pudlock, consumer health librarian for Weber County. "The new library will have all kinds of resources for the public, as well as an experienced medical librarian on hand to help people find the material they need."
Services will include assistance in locating credible consumer health information on the Web and online access to the Weber County Library's community information database, Pudlock said.
"Many people are using the Internet to find information on diseases and on health topics in general. You can become easilly innundated with information that is not always accurate and reliable," Pudlock said.
"The consumer health center at the new Pleasant Valley branch will have a collection of reliable and accurate books, DVDs, pamphlets, magazines, and consumer health databases to help the community make informed decisions on their health care."
The new consumer health collection can serve as a quiet retreat center for those dealing with health-related issues.
Pudlock said there have been numerous times people have come to the library looking for health information. Sometimes they have been newly diagnosed with a condition they know very little about.
"I had a man come into the main library a couple of weeks ago who had just been diagnosed with diabetes," she said. "He said his doctor told him to go to the library to find out what he can and can't eat. When a person is newly diagnosed with an illness, it can be frightening and overwhelming, but educating themselves can bring about a lot of relief."
In other words, Pudlock said, knowledge is power.
"This collection at the new library will meet a critical need in our community," she said. "Not only will people be able to find out more about their health, the health of a loved one or even the health of their pet, but they will, in the long run, save themselves money by learning preventative health skills."
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