The 2021 MLGSCA Virtual Spring Symposium: Uplifting Community Voices was a free, one-day educational event sponsored by NNLM PSR and the Medical Library Group of Southern California & Arizona (MLGSCA) on Thursday, March 25, 2021, from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Pacific time. The symposium highlighted community organizations, students, and librarians on health education in the time of COVID-19. Topics included health and our communities, racism in medicine, community engagement, health in bilingual populations, and teen and youth health. This one-day symposium brought together medical librarians, community organizations, and library students.
Invited keynote speakers shared their work and experiences in communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The keynote panel, “Community Health Experiences Pre and Post COVID-19,” featured community health workers from Arizona, California, and Hawaii and included talks from:
- Lorena Verdugo—community health coordinator, El Rio Community Health Center, Consulado de Mexico en Tucson-Ventanilla de Salud
- Susan Levy—program manager, Native Health Phoenix
- Ramona Merchan—Trauma Informed LA
- Marita Padilla—Waianae Coast Health Comprehensive Center, Hawaii
The MLGSCA annual members meeting was held from noon–1:00 p.m., followed by a presentation from LIS student presenters and librarians. Visit this link to learn more about our LIS student presenters:
- Nicole Greer—School Libraries and Teen Health
- Kate Pham—Academic Librarianship and Student Outreach, Organizing, and Coalition Building
- Mayra Fuentes—Spanish Speech Language Pathology Resources in Hospitals
- Alejandra Reyes—Mental Health in Spanish Speaking Communities
- Renée Torres—Graphic Medicine and Cultural Competency
Librarian presenters were:
- Yamila El-Khayat, MLIS—Tucson Promotoras, Health Navigators
- Zoe Unno, PhD & Amy Reyes—Citizen Science
- Christina Wyles, MS, RN, MLIS & Sheila Gephart PhD, RN—Engaging Communities to Assist in the Development and Evaluation of a Bilingual Spanish/English NEC-Zero Española Toolkit
