In 2021, over 1,400 people died of opioid overdoses in Chicago. By providing Narcan at library locations, CPL and CDPH help diminish the barriers to harm reduction in the communities we serve.

The joint goal of CPL and CDPH was to provide harm reduction care to communities. CDPH provides Narcan to be distributed at CPL locations. This was rolled out in stages to accommodate training of staff and installation of Narcan dispensers. This innovation expands the role of libraries in the community and provides access to life saving medicine which can be otherwise expensive to obtain.

The aim was to have Narcan in all 81 branch locations before the end of 2022 and that goal was achieved. From the start of the program January 2022 to March 2023, CPL has distributed 4,722 Narcan kits systemwide. Narcan has been used by patrons and library staff on several occasions to reverse an opioid overdose at libraries. We continue to track the number of kits that are taken as well as incidents of overdose. This partnership has led to other collaborations with CDPH, including harm reduction vending machines.