The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Calder Medical Library, in partnership with The Miami-Dade Public Library System, presented Keep Your Family Safe: Emergency Preparedness at Home and Away Safety Fair on Thursday, June 17, 2010, from 10 am – 4 pm at the Main Branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library. Eight Calder librarians and staff members promoted information and resources on safety concerning households, seniors, children, food, chemicals and more. Close to 200 participants, including 125 children attended the fair. The fair was made possible thanks to the Express Community Day Award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
Calder librarians were on hand to present various NLM resources to both adults and children attending the fair: TOXNET databases, MedlinePlus: Disaster Preparation and Recovery, ToxTown®, ToxMystery®, WISER®, and others. Giveaways included a Family Disaster Preparedness Plan (as written and prepared by the University of Miami Center for Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness), hurricane preparedness coloring books, MedlinePlus hand sanitizers and pens.
Representatives from the National Safety Council, Alliance for Aging, the Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami-Dade County’s Extension Office, Citizen’s Crime Watch and McGruff the Crime Dog were also present to answer safety-related questions. PJ Grier, the Network Services Coordinator from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, was also present to assist with our outreach at the fair.
Other safety fairs and train-the-trainer sessions are planned in the near future, including smaller fairs at regional branches, safety days at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida and a training session for public library branch managers and department heads.