Readiness and Capacity of Librarians in Public Libraries to Implement a Breast Cancer Outreach and Screening Campaign in Medically Underserved Communities

Community-based partnerships are an important means of addressing cancer health disparities in medically underserved communities. Public libraries may be ideal partners in this effort. To assess the readiness and capacityof a public library system to implement cancer recruitment and outreach campaigns, 58 librarians in the Queens Borough Public Library System in New York completed self-administered questionnaires before and after a training on breast health, cancer, and screening. Results indicate that they are interested in participating in a cancer outreach campaign and feel it is a critical need in their community.Many librarians lacked the knowledge about cancer and cancer information resources needed to participate optimally. Nevertheless, librarians provide a cultural bridge to medically underserved communities. Partnering with a public library system to improve access to care has great potential, yet a number of challenges need to be overcome.