AIDS Information Access: Reference, Referral, and Education in the Library Setting

Although the Public Health Service has identified AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) as the number one priority among public health concerns in the United States, and the Surgeon General has issued an official report calling for AIDS education initiatives to be instituted in a variety of settings throughout this country, many libraries have been slow to develop proactive means of supplying educational material on AIDS. As part of an overall AIDS education initiative, libraries stand to play a significant role through the production and/or distribution of information on AIDS, through the development of collections capable of satisfying the informational and educational needs of patrons and through the provision of reference and referral services that provide effective information delivery as it pertains to inquiries regarding the subject of AIDS.