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Last updated on Thursday, November 1, 2018
(UNDATED) - The maker of Narcan nasal spray, a brand name for naloxone, a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in overdose, has announced that they will donate one box containing two doses of the spray to each public library located in the country. This includes central libraries and branches.
Libraries are not obligated to accept the medication and must apply to receive the doses. Application information is available here.
The American Library Association and the Public Library Association were included in the donation announcement release in an effort to frame the work already underway in public libraries with community partners.
Emergent BioSolutions has a precedent for donating naloxone. In partnership with the Clinton Foundation, it pledged to donate 20,000 boxes of naloxone to more than 4,700 U.S. universities in 2017. It expanded the offer to all U.S. high schools, colleges and universities earlier this year. The company also underwrote education that is provided via the National Association of School Nurses.
ALA and PLA did not seek out the donation, but know that many public libraries are providing training for library staff, and even the public, in how to respond in case of an opioid overdose -including using naloxone to reverse the effect.
PLA worked with the Online Computer Library Center on a national town hall on this issue last year. OCLC received an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant this year to collaborate with PLA and others to continue and expand this work by developing and sharing case studies of varied communities in which the public library is collaborating with community partners to address the opioid crisis
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