SAPL Kiosk at Children’s Hospital of San Antonio
San Antonio Public Library, Texas
Innovation Synopsis
San Antonio Public Library gifted The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio a Digital Library Kiosk to better serve patrons outside the library. The Kiosk, located in a busy surgery waiting area, gives patients and their family access to SAPL’s digital resources. Its presence furthers community engagement and brand awareness goals.
Challenge/Opportunity
CHofSA, the city’s first freestanding hospital solely dedicated to caring for children, has a majority of non-local, often long-term patients. This makes them, family and caregivers ineligible for standard SAPL cards. To ease limited access to SAPL items, SAPL worked with its e-book provider, OverDrive to grant unique access to patients and families despite residency and without need for personal information (HIPPA standards limit patient information availability). The card grants unlimited access to SAPL digital resources.
Key Elements of Innovation
A SAPL and CHofSA partnership was presented to SAPL leadership by a Library Foundation board member. The two teams worked creatively from 2018 to 2019 to develop a plan that met accessibility requirements and advanced mutual goals. A kiosk was decided as the option of choice. Planning efforts included development of service available through the platform, accessibility, location, IT solutions, funding, a PR campaign and internal marketing campaign tailored to patient needs. The Kiosk was funded by CHofSA Foundation.
Achieved Outcomes
Since its launch, the SAPL Digital Library Kiosk at CHofSA has issued 339 SAPL cards to patients and family members for their unlimited access to our digital library. Additionally, with more than 70 families a day visiting the second floor Surgery Waiting Area where the kiosk is located, children staying at CHofSA as well as their families have been able to use SAPL resources as a tool for entertainment and comfort in a time of great stress and uncertainty.
