If granted, the Clatskanie Library District will spend the entirety of the award on purchasing new, current, and relevant books for our adult general nonfiction collection in the area of health and wellness.

The recent findings by the Institute of Museum and Library Services underscore for me the absolute need within my community for these resources and the imperative of the library’s mission to provide them. “The multi-year, multi-market study found the presence and usage of public libraries and museums to be positively associated with multiple dimensions of social wellbeing—in particular, community health, school effectiveness, institutional connection, and cultural opportunity.”

The library has patrons asking for books in these areas often, but leaving empty handed as they see the age, condition, and limited scope of our nonfiction health and wellness collection. My goal is to improve our health resources so that we can provide for our community much needed support in these areas.