Winterset is a rural community of approximately 5,200 in central Iowa, about 30 miles southwest of Des Moines. Residents can dine at the few eateries in town, but with the abundance of gardens and fresh ingredients available, patrons are often looking for ideas to create their own meals.
Through its full-time youth health and program coordinator position, the City of Harker Heights (Texas) Stewart C. Meyer Public Library is working to infuse health and wellness into all of its programming.
Destinee Barton stepped into this new role in September 2018 after earning her bachelor’s degree in community health from Texas Woman’s University. I recently talked with Destinee, along with Library Director Lisa Youngblood and Children's Librarian Amanda Hairton, about how this new position emerged, what impacts it has had, and where they see it heading.
This interactive program introduced adults to healthy cooking techniques and free online health information resources from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) through a series of three two-hour cooking demonstrations. The project targeted people with obesity, diabetes and other weight-management concerns.
For public libraries and community partners across North America, February is prime time for gardening programs. There are many types of gardening programs you can offer, and many partners you can work with to develop them.Â
A quick survey of the gardening programs being offering this February and March in North America reveals that libraries are offering:
