Hi there Dragonfly readers! My name is Mahria Lebow and I am the new Regional Technology Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Region. I was lucky enough to meet some of you before I got started here at the Regional Advisory Council meeting a few weeks back.

This position brings me back from the Midwest to my favorite part of the country. I am a native Oregonian, going back six generations to Thomas Simpson Lebow who trekked on the Oregon Trail from Tennessee to Lane County, settling in 1850.  I’m excited to again be sandwiched between the Pacific and the Cascades. I enjoy both camping and surfing, so my recreational activities will be much improved upon from my time in a landlocked state.

Prior to obtaining my Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of British Columbia, I had a wide range of experiences from providing technology support to clinical work (including phlebotomy!) at Oregon Health and Science University. I am coming most recently from the University of Iowa where I was acting as a Data Manager.

For those of you I had the opportunity to meet before, hello again.  For everyone else, I hope I have a chance to meet you in person sometime soon.  In the meanwhile, please feel free to contact me via e-mail (mahria@uw.edu), skype (mahriatalksonhermac) or call me (206-221-3489).  I am here to support you and your endeavors as they relate to technologies (old and new) and improving health information access, so please feel free to introduce yourself!

Submitted by :
Ann Dixon, Director, Homer Public Library
Carey Restino, Coordinator, Friends of the Homer Public Library

The Homer Public Library, in collaboation with the Friends of the Homer Public Library and local emergency responders, held a month of activities aimed at increasing the community’s emergency preparedness thanks to a $5000 NN/LM Community Preparedness Day Award.  Events, which were timed to coincide with national Disaster Preparedness Month, kicked off on September 21st with a special Story Time about safety and natural phenomena that occur locally, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. (more…)

Samaritan Health Services, an NN/LM PNR Network Member, has won the Rethinking Resource Sharing (RRS) 2011 Innovation Award for their project Access for All: Gateway to Information about Health Research Funding and Resources. (more…)

NN/LM PNR is pleased to announce funding opportunities for Community Preparedness Day Awards.  Community Preparedness Day Awards assist libraries in in becoming active partners in the community’s emergency preparedness, response and recovery planning activities.  Awards of up to $5000 each are available to NN/LM member organizations in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. (more…)

Highlighting the fact that medical librarians are the best resource when searching for health information, the theme for this year’s Medical Librarians Month (sponsored by the Medical Library Association) is “Medical Librarians: Your Ultimate Search Engine.”

Librarians have long demonstrated their benefit to their institutions, educating about their services, performing vital roles, and advocating for themselves and their libraries. This increases awareness of the value of libraries to hospital administrators and health care professionals. (more…)

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NN/LM PNR has learned of several upcoming free webinars that may be of interest:

• Tuesday, August 23rd: 11am – 12pm Pacific

Incorporating Ethics into Emergency Planning and Response to Ensure Health Equity

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This seminar will focus on the incorporation of ethics into emergency planning and response to promote health equity. A local jurisdiction’s approach to the development of an ethics framework will be highlighted, and an example of equitable distribution of vaccine with hospitals and culturally-specific communities will be described.  For more information and to register, visit this link: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e4e3j1ok8114fea7&llr=pf7m85dab&source=govdelivery (more…)