January is National Blood Donor Month

National Blood Donor Month was created in 1970 as a way to honor the country’s 11 million donors and also to encourage donation. Nationwide, nearly 44,000 donations are needed daily by patients of all ages experiencing serious injury, disease, or surgery.

To commemorate this month, Neill Public Library will be hosting the Inland Northwest Blood Center bus on Tuesday, January 27^th from 11am-1:30pm, for a blood donation drive!

Whole Blood and Double Red Cell donations will be accepted on the bus this day. The bus will be parked outside of the south entrance of the library on Olsen Street. To schedule a time to donate, call the library at (509) 334-3595 or stop by the reference desk. You can also sign up online here: 

http://www.myinbc.org/index.cfm?group=op&step=2&opid=634295 

You will be prompted to create a free account, and can then login to book or change appointments.

In honor of National Blood Donor Month, each donor will receive a t-shirt from the Inland Northwest Blood Center, and points that they can use toward rewards such as movie tickets or movie snacks, in addition to other great items. Each donor will also receive a free cholesterol screening at their donation!

The American Red Cross has some helpful tips on what to do prior to, during, and after your donation:  http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/tips-successful-donation

The Inland Northwest Blood Center, created in 1945, is headquartered in Spokane. All blood collected through the Center is distributed to local facilities, including the Gritman Medical Center and the Pullman Regional Hospital. You can read more about the history of the Center here: http://inbcsaves.org/history, and view a list of the facilities here: http://inbcsaves.org/service-area.

During the month of January, the library will have displays and educational materials about blood and blood donation! Many of these materials are generously on loan from the Inland Northwest Blood Center. The library also has numerous resources on the complexities of blood, particularly in our Juvenile Non-Fiction section. Many of these books will be featured in our oak display case during the month of January, but are available for checkout at any time!

Thank you to all donors, volunteers, and the Inland Northwest Blood Center!
Erin Hvizdak
Adult Services Library Assistant