Zack Osborne
Zack is the manager of library services and hospital archives at Unity Health Toronto (St. Michael's Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, and Providence Healthcare). He cares a lot about library advocacy, is interested in how we measure, evaluate, and communicate the impact of library work, and is an enthusiastic supporter of professional development for all library workers.
Intervention
Introduction: It can be difficult for hospital libraries to meet increasing service demands, ensuring staff time is occupied offering the services which best serve the organization, and while supporting competing priorities equitably and consistently. It's crucial for hospital libraries to adapt to the changing needs of their organizations, and to demonstrate they can align their service offerings with the strategic objectives of the organization.
Description: This paper outlines changes made to the scope and limitations of services and activities offered by the library team at Unity Health Toronto, a multi-site academic hospital network. These changes include the introduction of a priority matrix to transparently communicate priority or precedence of service requests, the re-imagination of roles on the library team to focus service offerings on specific under-supported program areas, and the implementation of a fee-for-service model for library "specialized services". From concentrating service delivery on meaningful and intentional uses of library staff time, these changes aim to better support the education, research, and evidence-based decision making for physicians, staff and learners in an academic health network.
Outcomes: High-level outcomes, reflections, and evaluations of success and impact will be shared at the time the paper is presented. It is hoped other hospital libraries considering modifications to how they support their communities will benefit from the approaches and strategies employed in this experience.
Discussion: This builds on a session delivered at CHLA 2023 in which the project's methods and approaches were discussed.