We'd like to give a big shout-out to Jaime, the manager of our Collection Services Division, for all the work she did to plan, coordinate, and execute the $30k Healthy Living at Your Library LSTA grant in 2016-17. The final paperwork for this grant was submitted today, and we look forward to watching the Healthy Living brand carry forward into future. If you're interested in the details ...

Outcomes

Outcomes from the 2016-17 grant included:

• 156 educational classes and events were held at 14 libraries county-wide. Class topics included Meditation, Healing Foods Basics, Gentle Strength and Stretch, Ayurveda, Senior Health Literacy, Rethink Your Drink, Cooking in Season, Transform Your Posture Through Yoga, Cooking Winter Vegetables, Cardio Kickboxing, What's on a label, etc.
• 921 people attended a Healthy Living class
• 40 prizes were given away to patrons who completed a Healthy Living Club Card
• 118 books and DVDs were purchased on health and wellness related topics, primarily cookbooks and workout videos
• 7 local community partnerships were established: Sonoma County YMCA, Santa Rosa Junior College - Community Education Division, Ceres Community Project, Northern California Center for Well Being, St. Joseph Health, Sonoma County Department of Health Services, Jill Nussinow (The Veggie Queen)
• All Branch Managers attended a 2-hour training session on Delivering Consumer Health Information to the Public presented by the National Library of Medicine

Changes in Behavior

Those who attended a healthy living class reported the following:

• 88% of attendees at healthy eating classes reported an increase in their knowledge of nutrition, cooking and healthy eating options as a result of attending
• 92% of attendees at healthy eating classes indicated a commitment to increasing their fruit and vegetable consumption
• 77% of attendees at physical fitness classes committed to doing the exercises at home
• 88% of attendees at any class indicated the class helped them achieve a personal health goal

Patron Responses

Some patron comments that came through on the feedback forms include:
“well organized and a lot of material covered in 1.5 hours”
“fabulous presentation! Yummy food!”
“encourage you to do more cooking or nutrition classes at the library”

Going Forward

The Healthy Living at Your Library branding and logo will continue to be used at SCL. Classes scheduled for Fall 2017 include Cooking Well at any Age, Piyo, Stay Fit, Stress Reduction and more. The scope will be increasing to include more classes specifically targeted for children, such as Kids Can Cook! which teaches kids how to make healthy snacks and Mindful Minis, a yoga/meditation class for kids.

We're looking forward to watching the Healthly Living series continue to offer these classes, services, and resources in our Strategic Plan goals to increase countywide health literacy and to deliver health related services within the library.