Giving Compass' Take:

• RAND Corporation reports on public health in relationship to public libraries, which provide safe spaces for social interaction, child and adult learning programs, and refuge during disasters.

• Funders should look at ways to support programs associated with public libraries — and make sure they have enough resources to serve the community.

• Here's how innovation and evidence at the library leads to literacy.

In Hundred, West Virginia, many homes sit at the end of gravel driveways off gravel roads — not the easiest place for people to walk. And in this low-income rural town of 300 people, many don't even own bikes, much less ride them around town.

When Tina McBee became director of the local public library in 2017, she decided to change that. “I had been in other towns where you can use your credit card to rent bikes for the day and thought, we could do that at the library,” McBee says. The building itself sits right off a rails-to-trails path, so providing bikes would be a natural way to encourage more exercise for the more than 2,900 people, including those in nearby communities, whom the library serves. That's especially important in a state like West Virginia, McBee said, which is known for its high obesity rates (PDF).

Now, thanks to her efforts, patrons of the Hundred Public Library can check out one of the eight bikes, including a tandem, as well as helmets, horns, bells, and even a baby trailer — for free.

“Libraries are so much more than just books,” says McBee, who sees their role as shifting more and more to asking: “How can we help the community?”

For the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), that evolution fits squarely into its Culture of Health vision. In fact, the number of libraries per 100,000 population is one of thirty-five national-level measures — ranging from walkability of a locality to reductions in racially segregated housing to voter participation — that we believe should be monitored as important signals of progress toward a nation where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live a healthy life.

Read the full article about measuring progress toward a culture of health at libraries by Carolyn Miller and Anita Chandra at rand.org.