The library is more than a place to get books. Now, thanks to the library's heart program, libraries in Central Florida are where community members can look to one aspect of health. A partnership between HCA Florida Healthcare, the American Heart Association, and the Orange County Library System will allow patrons under the age of 18 to check their blood pressure monitoring kits. In 2024, the kit was checked out 459 times.
“We try to bring the work of our community to life in a library-like environment, as we meet people where they are,” said Jimmy Clarity, vice president of Community Impact at the American Heart Association.
At least two staff members are trained at each branch of the library to teach patrons how to use the kit. The system also has an outreach team that gets kits in the hands of people who can join the community and are unable to go to the library or who don't realize that the program exists.
The Heart Library also provides automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) for all libraries in the system. We covered contributions from UCF Lake Nona Hospital and the costs of training library staff for CPR and AED use.
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