The Diverse Voices in Health & Medicine Collections

The Diverse Voices in Health & Medicine Collection Development Project was borne of a funding opportunity offered by the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) Region 5, which serves the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California and Hawaii along with the U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States in the Pacific. The award helps build collections that reflect voices of the communities served, as revealed through such genres as graphic medicine, fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, Young Adult, manuscripts (published and unpublished), oral histories and film. Expanding diverse voices in libraries (all types), public health agencies, academic programs, or community organizations ensures collection equity and supports health literacy by illuminating common or unique health issues facing underserved populations.

In all, NNLM Region 5 funded 27 Collection Equity Outreach Awards. Award recipients submitted final reports consisting of a bibliography of collection resources purchased, using a template created by NNLM staff to capture relevant bibliographic information. All 27 partner organizations returned these bibliographies, thus providing content for the Collection Development Resource. In total, awardees’ bibliographies documented 1,400 unique resources purchased and shared. Each state in NNLM Region 5 is represented, as are myriad genres and formats.

The four collection toolkits are free to download and use.

Diverse Voices Collection Development Resources: Adult Collection [131 pages PDF]

Diverse Voices Collection Development Resources: Children's Collection [72 pages PDF]

Diverse Voices Collection Development Resources: Young Adult Collection [44 pages PDF]

Diverse Voices Collection Development Resources: Zines Collection (Adults) [45 pages PDF]