The Cobb County Public Library announced that it will partner with the Morehouse School of Medicine to present a program entitled Increasing Knowledge & Reducing Risks: Improving Health Literacy Access to Historically Underserved Communities, on Wednesday, April 24 at 11:30 am at South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Road in Mableton.

The program is part of Morehouse School of Medicine’s  Talk, Learn and Collaborate (TLC) series.

The TLC series “opportunities for community partners to engage in dialogue with medical practitioners, care providers and community stakeholders about challenges facing society that often disproportionately affect under resourced communities,” according to MSM Office of Community Engagement Director Dr. Charity Starr Mitchell.

“Understanding the trends and barriers to achieving optimal health outcomes is key to effectively navigating this conversation and exploring potential solutions,” Dr. Mitchell said.

In addition to an in-person session, the program will also be available via Zoom.

Dr. Rhonda Holliday, PhD, Professor of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse, will deliver the featured speech, and will “share her past and present research highlighting her work in HIV infection prevention and intervention initiatives in both urban and rural Georgia communities.”

“A key component of health literacy involves educating individuals and addressing systemic barriers that influence the health of communities that have been historically underserved,” Dr. Holliday said.

In the press release for the event, the Cobb Public Library’s South Region Manager Jo Lahmon said public libraries have an important role in prioritizing health literacy in communities in metro Atlanta and across the United States.

“The health literacy thread flows through all generations and walks of life.  Cobb County library workers provide meaningful support to close health disparity gaps directly with the people we serve every day, one on one,” said Ms. Lahmon.  “The MSM/CCPL partnership is about our shared commitment to make a difference in growing awareness, true health literacy, that powers action by the community for wellness and health.”

Tabia Henry Akintobi, PhD, MPH, of the Morehouse School of Medicine, who is also a Mableton resident, will join the panel of experts and community champions to discuss  “health challenges and opportunities for transformative action.”

Dr. Akintobi is Professor and Chair of Community Health and Preventive Medicine and Associate Dean of Community Engagement. 

To register for this free event to attend in person or virtually, visit https://www.cobbcounty.org/library/news/program-improving-health-literacy-access-historically-underserved-communities-april-24

About the Cobb County Public Library

According to the Cobb County Public Library website:

Cobb County Public Library is a 15-branch system headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, where its staff members serve a diverse population of over 750,000 people. Cobb is one of Georgia’s fastest-growing counties, and Cobb County Public Library is dedicated to being a resource center in the community by providing equal access to information, materials, and services.

History of Cobb’s library system

The first public library in Cobb County was opened in the home of Sarah Freeman Clarke in Marietta. The first standalone library building, opened on Church Street in 1893 and was named for Clarke.

Libraries were opened in Acworth and Austell in subsequent years, and in 1959, the city of Marietta and several other Cobb County libraries combined to form a countywide system that began the Cobb County Public Library as we know it today.

You can read more about the history of the Cobb County Public Library by following this link.