Fighting opioid use disorder, one library and community at a time

Abstract

Opioid-related deaths increased by 28.5% in the US in 2020 from the year before. Two health crises, Covid-19, and an increase of fentanyl, have worked synchronously to create a public health disaster. While the opioid crisis has exploded since the introduction of fentanyl, people who use these narcotics have traditionally been medically underserved due to the stigma and illegality of their substance abuse issues. Despite evidence that this is a public health catastrophe, this issue has received insufficient attention in the past 18 months. The OCLC has created a toolkit to arm public libraries to assist in the opioid epidemic. This toolkit aids library staff to use local data to understand the opioid epidemic in their communities, identify community partners, offer community engagement, and promote self-care for library professionals. This paper describes the adaptation of the OCLC’s opioid response toolkit at public libraries in the southern US- including the creation of the social justice-oriented curriculum, to the delivery in libraries around the region hit hard by opioids. As anchors of the community, libraries are a natural partner for information provision and outreach related to the opioid crisis.