OCLC receives IMLS grant to support libraries responding to the opioid crisis

Supporting Library Responses to the Opioid Crisis. OCLC has been awarded an IMLS National Leadership Grant to lead an initiative developing a set of free online resources that staff at public libraries can use to determine how their library can address opioid use disorder in their local communities.

The resources will include pragmatic strategies, tools, and other content to help guide libraries—particularly those in rural areas—as they determine their specific communities’ needs and define the roles and activities their library is most suited to carry out. These resources will help libraries assess their staff strengths and capacity, identify key local partners with whom to collaborate or coordinate, and plan and implement an initiative that contributes to ending the opioid crisis.

This initiative will help strengthen and support libraries—and, more broadly, the communities they serve—as the nation continues to struggle with the opioid crisis.

The project will launch September 2021, and all resources created for this project will be made available through OCLC’s WebJunction, a free continuing education resource for libraries of all types and sizes.

Read the press release.