| Booklist Article
The public is turning to libraries for help deciphering all the messages and news swirling around COVID-19 and the vaccination effort that is under way across the country. We wondered how our colleagues at Chicago Public Library were meeting this need, knowing that their experience and advice would be of help to all our readers. —Donna Seaman
Seaman: How are you responding to people’s quest for reliable information about public health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Olivia Kuncio: We always work closely in conjunction with Chicago Department of Public Health and with other departments of health and follow their guidance when it comes to statements on public health. We help amplify the messages coming from the relevant city departments that manage public health and vaccines, as we know that many people trust libraries and use them as a heuristic for reliability. As the vaccine rollout continues across Illinois and Chicago, we’ll continue to promote key public health messages to our audience through our different platforms.
Seaman: What are the challenges and pitfalls?
Kuncio: Since libraries are trusted sources of information, it’s incumbent on library workers to take that responsibility seriously and watch for misinformation, as our staff does as we support our patrons every day. We evaluate our purchases and reading suggestions carefully. The health information/publishing marketplace is particularly clouded by charged or misleading information. Library workers are likely to find such books on vendor websites and, based on the metadata alone, plenty of these books sound perfect for their needs. It’s important to develop habits of caution and skepticism when selecting materials and to be mindful that sometimes no information is better than misinformation.
Seaman: How do you approach the pandemic when it comes to readers’ advisory, discussion, displays, and/or programming?
Kuncio: When it comes to staff offering reading suggestions and creating displays, it’s important that, at the very least, library workers not amplify misinformation, conspiracy theories, or racism. Readers’ advisory displays and handouts can be a good way to make reliable, scientific, and medical information available in a non-confrontational way. We have shared several guides to identifying misinformation since the beginning of the pandemic (https://www.chipublib.org/?post_type=&s=misinformation, https://www.chipublib.org/blogs/post/avoid-coronavirus-scammers-cybersecurity-resources/) and will continue to do that moving forward.
Seaman: Do you have any suggestions for librarians across the country regarding reliable free and public online resources they can share on their websites?
Kuncio: The Network of the National Libraries of Medicine is a good place to check for curated resources because of the emphasis on medical science and research (NNLM | Network of the National Library of Medicine). It is also a great source for staff training and courses. For a simple introduction to the broader topic of online health information (not COVID or vaccine specific), our Chicago DigitalLearn site has a course that PLA developed with assistance from NNLM staff, Online Health Information. It’s just over 15 minutes long and gives computer users of all levels an overview of how to find reliable health information online.
Olivia Kuncio is a public relations representative for Chicago Public Library. Kuncio’s colleagues, Kate Lapinski, Learning & Economics Advancement, and Stephen Sposato, Manager of Content Curation, contributed to this article.
https://www.booklistonline.com/Notes-from-the-Field-Combating-Misinformation-and-COVID-19-Kuncio-Olivia/pid=9744646?_zs=OSNoe1&_zl=N1XP7&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
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