Carbon dioxide monitors can make visible something that is invisible: indoor air quality. Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a hot topic because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other airborne environmental health threats, like particulate matter and wildfire smoke. But most people have low environmental health literacy. Even if people do know about the relationship between ventilation and COVID-19 risk, many people can’t afford to buy CO2 monitors to check their ventilation.

Public libraries can respond by providing patrons with CO2 monitors and educational materials about how ventilation, filtration, and IAQ affect health. By offering library users access to CO2 monitors and high-quality educational materials, curated in partnership with the not-for-profit organization Community Access to Ventilation Information, libraries can achieve NNLM’s mission of improving the public’s access to information to enable users to make informed decisions about their health.