The Mt. Olive Public Library offers support to community

The Mt. Olive Public Library and Board of Trustees are providing an outside wall-mounted Narcan box as a way to mitigate the harm of opioid overdose and integrate recovery resources in our safe space and community.

Lindsey Minor, of St. Francis Way Clinic and Macoupin County Health Department provided the box, the narcan nasal spray, and testing strips for fentanyl and xylazine. She provided information and training to the library staff. The box has information on recovery resources. The box is located on the north wall of the library. Patrons will not need to provide any information to access the box and may take what they need.

Narcan, an overdose reversal medication, is the FDA-approved nasal spray form of naloxone. Narcan does not require medical training to administer and has no harmful effects if given to someone not experiencing an overdose. Narcan distribution programs have been shown to decrease opioid-related overdose fatalities nationwide. Anyone in our community could experience an opioid overdose especially because synthetic opioid like fentanyl are increasingly being added to all substances.