Ref Rap: Drug info @ your library forum - Kris

On a bright sunny day towards the end of February, I ventured forth to the big smoke and attended the annual drug info @ your library forum which was held at the State Library’s McDonald’s Room. My pace automatically quickened as I headed along Macquarie Street with the anticipation of receiving free samples of my personal drug of choice – French Fries. Alas, I was disappointed to find that the McDonald’s Room had not been named after the much loved (yet creepy) clown, but instead some other fellow of note who had yet to discover the natural affinity which exists between freshly peeled potatoes and hot oil. Once recovered, I immersed myself into what was to be an interesting, informative and well-structured day.

The drug info @ your library forum attracts library workers from diverse locations around the state and is as much a day of providing us with information as a fact-finding mission for those responsible for the collection (State Library’s Kate O’Grady). What I personally enjoy most about the forum is that it’s a highly interactive event – each library’s opinion on the various issues regarding the collection is taken into account and if possible integrated keeping the ‘drug info’ collection fresh, practical and of value to the community. We discuss issues such as our target audience and why some resources are more appealing to the public than others, which items should be culled from the collection and whether certain titles are best housed in Reference collections vs lending. There are many opinions to be heard in this major brainstorming session, but it’s great that NSL’s approach very much a hands-on.

Our guest speakers for the day included representatives from the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC), NSW Health, and the very inspiring Carolyn Stafford whose consultancy work involves the marketing and promotion small businesses. Carolyn feels that a specialised collection such as drug info @ your library can almost be treated as a small business in regards to its promotion. We covered the concepts of branding, building alliances in the community, hosting memorable events and maximising in-library promotion by training staff about the collection.

Another highlight of the day was the news that the State Library has entered into a partnership with the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) to write a comprehensive plain language resource on a whole range of illicit drugs and alchohol. One of the great features of the book is that it covers polydrug use (eg the effects of mixing alcohol and cannabis). The book is currently in draft stage but is planned to be ready for Drug Action Week.

If I had to list the main ideas that I took home with me at the end of this interesting day, ones I’m still playing with, would be the following:

1. Displaying the drug info @ your library collection more prominently in the library.
   Stop press! Sutherland Library now has a column on the ground floor (between the Information Desk and legal info column) dedicated to free drug info handouts. Slat wall panelling has been secured around the column and various freebies are on offer to our customers who can conveniently (and discreetly) grab pamphlets without having to ask staff.
   
2. Promoting the collection
   a. I’m planning to write a blog post (with accompanying photo) about the merits of the collection including a plug for all the great free material available.
   
   b. Drug Action Week in June will feature some type of display including Ref items from the drug info collection.
   
   c. Contacting local community health centres to check whether they are interested in having free pamphlets available for their clients. Perhaps even checking with the medical centre across from Sutherland Library in Stapleton Ave.
   
3. Stocking free pamphlets alongside the relevant community language eg the Family Matters free pamphlet is also printed in Arabic and Chinese (though not Greek). Any branches interested in also stocking some of these freebies in our community languages, please let me know and I’ll order extra.