Florida State University (Florida State University, College of Communication and Information)

In this Early Career Development Proposal, Margaret Sullivan, an assistant professor with Florida State University’s (FSU) School of Information, will investigate library outreach services and the opioid epidemic. This project is meant to answer the following questions: 1) What relationships exists between libraries and local opioid-related harm reduction organizations in US communities hard-hit by the opioid crisis and, 2) how has the local opioid use population (OUP) engaged with library services. Research activities include: developing and disseminating a survey to 50 public library directors in the hardest hit regions of the opioid crisis; conducting research into the availability of local opioid-related harm reduction organizations in the communities that are surveyed; selecting six libraries from the survey results to visit and study in further depth through interviews with the library staff and the local OUP; and developing a series of practical recommendations for library staff. Project results include an evidence-based framework of how public libraries responded to the opioid crisis within their communities, recommendations for library professionals to meet the needs of the OUP in their communities, and a free, open-sourced module for library and information science (LIS) schools to use in their curriculum about library responses to the opioid epidemic.