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The News & Advance
Published: August 29, 2012
Updated: August 29, 2012 - 9:29 PM
For someone seeking up-to-date and accurate medical information, a library may not immediately come to mind.
But in Campbell County, that perception is changing.
On Tuesday, the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation presented a $300 grant to the Campbell County library system, comprised of four locations in Rustburg, Brookneal, Altavista and Timbrook.
It?s the second year in a row that residents of Campbell County will have free access to some of the latest research materials about breast cancer.
?Medical books are always the most difficult to keep up to date and keep in stock,? said Nan Carmack, Campbell County library director. ?So to have the funds to keep people abreast of new publications and new developments is critical to the library. Any time we can have the opportunity to update a time-sensitive subject matter like breast cancer is such a benefit to the community.?
The library system first received a $400 grant from the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation in 2011. Those funds, Carmack said, were used to purchase books geared primarily toward newly diagnosed patients and family members affected by the disease.
This year, the focus will be tweaked.
?We plan on focusing on books geared toward children and teenagers who have a family member affected by breast cancer,? Carmack said.
There currently are about 75 books on the topic of breast cancer scattered throughout the four libraries and available to residents.
Without the grant, some of those books wouldn?t be available, Carmack said.
At the main branch in Rustburg, the shelves are filled with a wide range of topics, from aid for family members coping with the effects of breast cancer to helping patients understand their treatment options.
?We were able to update our medical materials on this topic to cutting-edge currency, as opposed to having books that were three or four years old,? Carmack said.
Bruce B. Quick, a Virginia Commonwealth University health information specialist, assists Carmack in selecting materials for the library. She noted that breast cancer patients are forced to make life-changing decisions ? especially when initially diagnosed.
?My goal is to help people understand enough about their diagnosis so that they can make a list of questions for their doctor,? she said. ?I can?t answer their questions. I won?t take on that role. But I can help them formulate those questions and improve the quality of their doctor visits.?
Many of the materials purchased with grant funds will be on display at each of the four libraries in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Residents also can access information on the effects of breast cancer through the Campbell County library website.
?A lot of people?s first inclination in a health crisis situation is to Google a topic,? Carmack said. ?Well, what happens when you do that? All of the paid ads come up first. They?re trying to sell you something. So that?s the role of librarian in our contemporary society ? to separate through all the junk and help you identify what?s good and accurate information.?
Carmack remembers a woman who visited one of the Campbell libraries in search of a cookbook tailored toward meals for cancer patients. The woman represented a church, which was gathering meals for a member who had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
?We did, in fact, have a cookbook purchased with these funds,? Carmack said. ?We were able to say, ?Here?s a book with all the recipes in it that include what someone going through chemotherapy would need.? They were able to use us as a resource.?
For Carmack, one of the greatest thrills is one of the greatest challenges ? offering free access of reliable materials to those who need it.
?I think that the benefit of a public library, specifically for a topic like this, is that we?re so non-threatening,? she said. ?We?re not a doctor?s office or the health department so there?s a greater sense of anonymity when you come here and borrow materials. It?s also free.??
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