Giving Compass' Take:

• Greer Roberts explains how a funding program is working to help communities engage with their health through local library branches. 

• How can funders help libraries maximize their impact on communities? 

• Learn how libraries are leading the charge on early childhood literacy. 

Fourteen public libraries across England, Scotland and Wales have been awarded £200,000 to help their communities explore health and wellbeing.

Public libraries are trusted places in local communities. The Engaging Libraries programme is a people-centred approach to engage with others’ experiences and explore new ideas in a safe space.

Engaging Libraries is a pilot, £200,000 funding programme for libraries to discover new ways of engaging their communities about health. It’s co-funded between Carnegie UK Trust and Wellcome.

We challenged libraries to think about what’s important to their local communities and to be creative in how they could engage audiences, even with really challenging topics. We wanted to encourage libraries to try new ways of working and deliver activities that open up libraries as a space where people can explore health.

Read the full article on libraries and community health by Greer Roberts at Wellcome.