Library LITE and WAT in Montgomery County

In support of the Administrative Priority to Target Outreach and Expansion the Library LITE & Walk Across Texas Program was planned and implemented in Montgomery County.

Chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, place a significant burden on the entire state of Texas. Many of these diseases could be prevented by regular physical activities, such as walking, along with an improved daily diet and routine health screening.
As a result of this growing concern, the Montgomery County Library System Outreach Director Devery Johnson and Marketing Director Melissa Baker created the concept of a Library LITE wellness program which emphasized a theme to help participants Lose weight, Increase confidence, Tone your body, and Exercise & energize.

The Linda Mock, CEA-FCS, along with Lilly Dorney, BLT Program Assistant, were asked to be major partners in the educational focus of Library LITE. Mock and Dorney planned thirty-two educational presentations using eleven different curricula offered by Texas AgriLife Extension specialists. In addition, Marilyn Kasmiersky, FCS Committee members, was recruited to teach several “Financial Fitness” classes.

Each of the branch library coordinators selected their own educational presentations from a curriculum list. The Extension presentations served as single one-shot programs by Mock and Dorney from January to March and were an avenue to market the importance of participating in WAT as well. Topics of the presentations included:

• Dinner Time Dilemma
• Portion Distortion
• Myths & Realities About Maintaining Healthy Weight
• Getting the Skinny on Fad Diets
• Watching the Waistline When Eating Out
• BLT Better Health with Better Choices
• Cooking with Herbs and Spices
• Heart Smart Series (Heart Health, Bone Health, Cancer Health, and Food Safety)
• Coloring Our Children’s Plates With Fruits and Vegetables
• Eating Behaviors of the Young Child
• Growing Healthy, Happy Babies: Infant and Toddler Nutrition
• Let’s Get Moving!
• Promoting Healthy Weight In Young Children: Best Practices for Encouraging Physical Activity
• Get Moving: One Step at a Time
  

A total of about 225 adults and children participated in one or more of the presentations held at the various branches and reported positive comments on their written evaluations. There were a total of 425 registered participants for the Walk Across Texas programs but only 296 (253 females and 43 males) of those actually reported their weekly mileage to their specific branches. Compiling all of the data from each branch, the Montgomery County Memorial Library System logged in 27,246 miles from 40 different registered teams.

The potential economic impact of Library LITE/Walk Across Texas in Montgomery County during 2009 was most significant. According to the post survey, 84% (248 of 296) of the participants reported that along with their families, Library LITE/Walk Across Texas had helped them to form several new positive health habits. 24% (64 of 296) of the participants reported being able to avoid or delay developing diabetes. All in all, the total potential impact for Montgomery County Memorial Library System employees and their patrons was $4,461,809.

Health education, wellness education, and promoting physical activity will continue to be strong programs with outreach audiences in Montgomery County.

Content for this article was provided by Dale A. Fritz, Ph.D., District Extension Administrator-Texas AgriLife Extension Service