Need help incorporating health programming into your overall library programming strategy? We’re here to help! On the first of each month, you can expect us to publish ideas for programming 3 months out. You’ll see the same 7 major sections each month: Quick & Easy, Featured Resources, Book Club, Tie Ins (to other programming areas), Community Partnerships, Publicity Resources and Fun Stuff!
With American Heart Month, National Wear Red Day (February 4, 2011), African American History Month, and Valentine’s Day all happening in February, the library is a busy place. Start planning now with these resources that will make February library programming a snap.
Quick & Easy
Use these printable coloring pages and activities with your Heart Health story time, teen time, or any time at all:
- Doctor Listening to My Heart (preschool and up)
- Red Cross coloring book (preschool and up)
- Follow the Blood Activity Sheet (kindergarten and up)
- Take a Look Inside of You! (1st grade and up)
- Heart Health Valentine Heart Bookmarks (1st grade and up)
- Heart Word Game (4th grade and up)
- Valentine Healthy Dessert Scramble (4th grade and up)
- Bookmarks, Iron-ons, Door Hangers, & Stickers (teens)
Featured Resources
Books
Order these Heart Health books and biographies featuring African American medical pioneers in time for February check-out:
- Heart Books for Little Ones
- Heart Health Books for Children
- African American Medical Pioneers: A List for Children
- Newer Heart Health Books for Adults
- African American Medical Pioneers: A List for Adults
Free Books! Order a copy to add to your library collection or download the PDF to access information instantly:
- The Heart Healthy Book for Women – ‘07
- Your Guide to Lowering Cholesterol with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)
Internet
Point your library users to some of the most interesting, interactive, and informative Heart Health information on the web by adding these links to your library’s website:
Non-Profit Organizations:
News:
Educational Information:
- The Virtual Heart website
- Electric Heart from PBS/NOVA
- Be the Beat, American Heart Association’s website for teens
- Heart and Vascular Disease Publications from NHLBI
- The Heart from National Geographic
- Heart Attack Tutorial from Medline Plus
- “Heart and Blood Vessels Disorders” from Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers
Book Clubs
Discuss cardiac arrest, sisterhood, and end of life issues or (see the Tie Ins section below) the history of open heart surgery and amazing medical pioneers at your February book club:
While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky (Anchor, 2008) is a novel about the sister of a young runner who does not regain consciousness after a heart attack.
Tie Ins
African-American History Month
Connect American Heart Month and African-American History Month with programs and information featuring Vivien Thomas, African-American heart surgery pioneer:
A Biography for Children
- Heart Man: Vivien Thomas, African-American Heart Surgery Pioneer by Edwin Brit Wyckoff (Enslow, 2008)
An Autobiography for Teens and Adults
- Partners of the Heart: Vivien Thomas and His Work with Alfred Blalock: An Autobiography (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985)
Movies Based on Partners of the Heart
- American Experience: Partners of the Heart - PBS. Includes viewer’s guide
- Something the Lord Made – HBO
An Internet Site Commemorating the Surgical Team
Heart Healthy Video Games
Focus your monthly video game activities on heart healthy gaming. You can find the best Wii games for exercise here:
Community Partnerships
Team up with national and local organizations to bring American Heart Month to your community in the form of CPR classes and informative programs.
American Heart Association (AHA)
- Find your local AHA chapter
- Host a CPR Anytime Program & apply for a grant from The Medtronic Foundation to cover the fee for your CPR Anytime Program
- Host an AHA Go Red for Women Party at your library on Friday, February 4, 2011, National Wear Red Day. With the free Go Red Presents: Choose to Live video and the accompanying Our Hearts. Our Choice. A Go Red for Women Discussion Guide your event will be easy to plan and host.
American Red Cross
- Find your local American Red Cross to schedule a CPR class at your library
- Register to host a blood drive at your library
National Institute of Health
National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute (NHBLI)
- Partner with the Keep the Beat™ campaign
- Order a free copy of Deliciously Healthy Dinners to add to your library’s collection or download it instantly.
- Send a Keep the Beat™ recipe along with the press release (link below) to your local newspaper to promote your library’s American Hearth Month activities .
- Make professional-looking signs in a flash for your display of heart healthy cookbooks with these free and colorful Keep the Beat™ logos.
- Register for the Keep the Beat™ Healthy Eating Online Toolbox where you can add your library’s logo and other library information to Keep the Beat™ recipe cards and marketing flyers.
- Host a We Can! Energize our Families: Parent Program
- If you are looking for an instant healthy heart program for parents of children ages 8-13, check out NHBLI’s We Can! Energize Our Community: Toolkit for Action or download it instantly. This free toolkit includes everything from planning and promotion guidance to six detailed lesson plans and program handouts.
- Host an Act in Time to Heart Attack Signs program.
- NLBI’s Act in Time to Heart Attack Signs “talk-in-a-box” includes a 13 minute video and discussion questions – just right for a one hour program. Downloadable brochures and wallet cards are also available.
Publicity Resources
- An American Heart Month web badge to add to your library’s website
- A Heart Health Month press release ready for you to customize, provided by Gale Health and Wellness Resource Center.
Fun Stuff
Goof off at the reference desk and amaze your friends on Twitter . . . OR add a fun interactive experience to a library program and enhance your library website with these fun and interesting links:
Video
Interactive Fun
- Find the Heart with a Virtual Stethoscope from the Science Museum of Minnesota
- You Be the Surgeon, an interactive virtual reenactment of the first open heart surgery from PBS
- Operation: Heart Transplant or How to Transplant a Heart in Nineteen Easy Steps by PBS/NOVA
Online Quizzes
- Heart Attack Risk Calculator from the National Cholesterol Education Program
- Heart Health Quiz from Discovery Health
Smart Phone Apps
- BMI Calculator from USA.gov
- Hands-Only CPR from the AHA
Do you have any other ideas that you want to share? Feel free to leave a comment.
One Response
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
Continuing the Discussion
You must be logged in to post a comment. Otherwise, feel free to register for free and post a comment.