Public libraries and opioid harm reduction organizations in the US

Public libraries have long been found successful supporting vulnerable populations, likely due to a high level of community trust. This paper explores current harm reduction information needs and provision in libraries, collaborative relationships between libraries and opioid-related harm reduction organizations, and how these relationships are different between types of communities. A mixed-methods survey was sent out to library directors in counties with the highest rates of drug overdose deaths across the US, divided equally by urban and rural communities. A qualitative content analysis demonstrated patterns in the data that describe current library harm reduction needs, practices, and collaborations, which we compared, employing quantitative statistics, with the availability of local harm reduction organizations and community type. Many of the 35 libraries that responded already engage in harm reduction information provision and have active collaborative relationships with harm reduction organizations. Urban libraries report being more affected by the crisis, while rural libraries report more community collaboration. In addition to our analysis of these collaborative relationships, our poster will also present our findings on what the library director believe are the harm reduction information needs of the people who have opioid use disorder, based upon their interactions and requests with library staff.