CANCELLED: Libraries as a Resource Hub: How the Nashville Helps Website Connects Patrons to Providers

The Adult Literacy Department at Nashville Public Library developed a one-stop-shop for helping Adult Learners overcome barriers keeping them from being lifelong learners. Nashville Helps is a quick collection for providing help to members of Davidson County in need of housing, healthcare, childcare, tutoring services, access to food pantries, adult learning classes, U.S. Citizenship, and so much more. Various local agencies sign on as partners and work with Adult Literacy at Nashville Public Library to grow the compilation of services available on our Nashville Helps website. This is a reversed referral service, allowing agencies to contact the website user based on which services they select. The website management is contracted out, but this does make maintaining and updating website content less stressful for library staff as we are able to edit shared Excel sheets and upload contract agreements directly into a shared drive with the webmaster. Accessibility and user-friendliness were the top two concerns of both the Adult Literacy staff and the web design team. The website has a simplified interface to make access quick, easy, and efficient. We are also growing our partners and finding new ways to make the website accessible. The development is ongoing, as the website is now a 2.0 towards our final goal of a 5.0 service. These five stages of development should ensure the effectiveness of the Nashville Helps website for years to come, with our biggest goal being able to provide users with multiple languages in which to find services. Currently, we feature this website on the Adult Literacy at Nashville Public Library landing page on the library website. This is also an active and live URL (www.nashvillehelps.com), which allows patrons to access it from anywhere and requires no login information or library card number.