The Health Speaker Series with PNC and Region 5 is a collaboration between NNLM Region 5 and Pacific Northwest Chapter/Medical Library Association.
This series features expert guest speakers presenting on a variety of health-related topics important to our attendees.
Objectives
- Recognize health-related topics important to librarians, health professionals, public health workers, and others to help inform their work.
- Apply presented information and resources to continue educating yourself, your peers, and the healthcare community on a variety of health-related topics.
- Identify NLM and MLA resources to use to find additional information on relevant topics.
Upcoming Events
| Title | Date | Summary |
| Discovering the History of Medicine at NLM | 2026-11-18 | This presentation offers a guided tour of the National Library of Medicine’s history of medicine resources, highlighting the rich collections, research tools, digital content, and exhibitions available through the History of Medicine website. |
| Human Flourishing in the Age of Information Overload | 2027-01-14 | In this presentation, international library consultant, professor, researcher, and award-winning library leader, Loida Garcia-Febo, will explore practical ways to optimize health, attention, meaning, connection, and well-being in our personal and professional lives. |
Past Events
| Title | Date | Summary |
| The Importance of Stories for Health Communicators | 2026-10-29 | Viewing science communication as a form of storytelling, this talk provides theoretical understanding of the role of stories in how people think and communicate and practical insights for applying storytelling strategies to engage people in health and medical information. |
| Doing an Accessibility Audit of Your Library | 2026-07-22 | This session will focus on doing a basic physical accessibility audit of your library space. This session will not make you an expert but will give you a lot of things to think about and resources to help you do an audit. |
| Advancing Disaster Preparedness and Everyday Readiness: Leveraging Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN) Resource Central for Health Education and Community Impact | 2026-03-18 | This session introduces the Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN) and Resource Central, a librarian-curated, SME-reviewed database of more than 4,000 multilingual resources designed to support healthcare professionals, families, and schools. |
| Harnessing community strengths for research and interventions on wildfire smoke in the Yakima Valley of Washington state | 2026-02-25 | The session will describe a study in the rural, agricultural Yakima Valley in Washington state aimed at understanding the barriers in order to develop programs that could best support families in future wildfire smoke events. Additionally, the presenters will discuss how both the research findings and their unique approach to collaborating with the local community could be applied to help other regions of the U.S. being impacted by wildfire smoke. |
| Keiki Heroes: Health Activity Materials for Children | 2026-01-28 | Keiki Heroes is a community empowerment initiative that provides HawaiĘ»i’s keiki (children) with fun and engaging ways to develop healthy habits and stay safe.This session will describe the process of creating the books and how they are disseminated widely through community partners and events. |
| Empathy Lens: Humanizing Images & Education for Reducing Stigma Against People Who Use Drugs | 2025-12-04 | This session will explore how stigma in both language and visuals fuels discrimination and exclusion, while sharing practical strategies for selecting non-stigmatizing, accurate, and inclusive materials for outreach, education, and advocacy. |