Uploaded June 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
According to Chera Kowalski, "public libraries have always been more than just books." Chera sees libraries as civic institutions that must be able to respond to the needs of their communities. And at Philadelphia's McPherson Square Library, where Chera worked, responding to the needs of the community meant being trained and able to administer the overdose-reversing drug, Narcan. Watch Chera's 2017 TEDMED Talk to learn what it was like to work at a public library at the center of Philadelphia's opioid epidemic and why she believes that a library must serve as a judgement-free haven for the entire community.
According to Chera Kowalski, "public libraries have always been more than just books." Chera sees libraries as civic institutions that must be able to respond to the needs of their communities. And at Philadelphia's McPherson Square Library, where Chera worked, responding to the needs of the community meant being trained and able to administer the overdose-reversing drug, Narcan. Watch Chera's 2017 TEDMED Talk to learn what it was like to work at a public library at the center of Philadelphia's opioid epidemic and why she believes that a library must serve as a judgement-free haven for the entire community.
