17 - Restarting a Hospital Library Service: A Collaboration Between a Rural Tertiary Medical Center and a Medical School

Friday, May 6, 2022

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM CT

Presenter and Author(s)

Amy Allison, AHIP

Associate Dean for Library Services
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Scranton, Pennsylvania

Author(s)

Mikki Smith, AHIP

Medical Librarian
William C. Beck, M.D., Health Science Library and Resource Center
Sayre, Pennsylvania
BC

Burt Cagir, MD

Professor of Surgery, Residency Program Director
Department of Surgery
Sayre, Pennsylvania

Background: During 2020, many hospitals reduced costs in response to the pandemic's financial impacts. At one rural tertiary medical center, funding for the library, including the 1.0 FTE library position, was eliminated as part of the overall cost reduction. The medical center serves 12 counties in New York and Pennsylvania and has seven residency and fellowship programs, 140 residents, and space to train 60 medical students. Through a partnership between the medical center and a medical school, library services were reinstituted under new leadership, with a new vision for meeting the organization’s information needs and a new organizational structure.

Description: Various options, including re-establishing services at the site and outsourcing the services to an affiliated medical school, were evaluated. The director of the medical center’s research foundation and the affiliated medical school’s library director collaborated on a proposal to restart the service under the research foundation. Discussions with leadership at the medical center and school led to an agreement for the medical school to provide support for the service. The school’s library agreed to participate in recruiting and training a professional librarian. The school’s library director would oversee the service and report outcomes to stakeholders. Other support included backup service for the medical center librarian and technical support to manage access to online resources. A librarian started at the medical center in November 2021. Next steps include building the collection, developing a program of services, and improving access.

Conclusion: As the project progresses, we will describe the outcomes and present the results of interviews with stakeholders of the medical center’s library services. Topics to be addressed will include stakeholder attitudes, lessons learned, and applicability of the model to improve library services at rural centers.