The first mobile health library in the county hit the road Monday to bring wellness information and blood-pressure monitors to residents in East County.
“Library outreach has happened on horseback, on bicycles, and even by mule,” said Holland Kessinger, head librarian at the Health and Wellness Library in La Mesa. “In our case, by Chrysler Pacifica hybrid plug-in.”
The Mobile Outreach Library, or Molly, made its inaugural trip Monday morning to deliver a variety of health-related literature and three blood-pressure monitors to the El Cajon Library, with a trip to the Spring Valley Library scheduled for Friday.
“We’re still developing what regular routes will look like and where it will actually go,” Kessinger said. “But we’ve got an interest list of about 10 to 12 organizations at the moment. It’ll go to senior care facilities, living centers, a bunch of community centers. Just about anywhere that the public gathers and congregates is a place that we’re willing to take it. And we can take it out for special events, too.”
The mobile library will go to various locations within the 750-square-mile Grossmont Healthcare District, which serves 520,000 residents and covers Alpine, El Cajon, Harbison-Crest, Jamul, La Mesa, Laguna-Pine Valley, Lakeside, Lemon Grove, Mountain Empire, Santee, and Spring Valley.
The Health and Wellness Library is at 9001 Wakarusa St., La Mesa, and was opened in 2002 by the Grossmont Healthcare District, which still runs it. Library cards are available to anyone who lives, works or goes to the school within the district.
The Grossmont Healthcare District Board of Directors approved the mobile library in December 2023, and the van was bought last year. Molly’s operating budget is $25,000 this year and is expected to decrease over time.
During a ribbon-cutting and launch ceremony at the Health and Wellness Library on Monday, Grossmont Healthcare District Chief Community Health Officer Amy Abrams said the new mobile library will further the district’s mission of improving the physical and mental health of people throughout the community they serve.
“Working people, those with limited mobility and residents of the district’s rural and tribal communities can now more easily access the resources that the Health and Wellness Library offers and the assistance of our trained library staff,” she said. “This is health equity in action.”
People visiting the mobile library can for library cards to check out material, receive digital literacy training and find help in researching health information on certain conditions. Molly also will provide information about services available through other non-profit health and community partners in East County.
