CINJ celebrates National Library Week

The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) joins communities, schools and other institutions across the nation in recognizing National Library Week (April 8-14). Sponsored by the American Library Association, this celebration aims to remind everyone that libraries serve as knowledge centers and a readily-available resource for all.

CINJ houses its own library known as the Resource and Learning Center (RLC), which provides a source of comfort and information for many patients and family members unfamiliar with the many aspects of cancer. Here, educational materials such as books (for both children and adults), health magazines, videos, DVDs, and CD-ROMs can be accessed to provide information on a variety of cancer topics, such as prevention, treatment, research, and nutrition. Information in the library's database is also accessible through the center's website: www.cinj.org/rlc. Keeping up with the latest technology, the RLC contains Apple iPads and Barnes & Noble NOOK™ electronic readers in its information arsenal, allowing users additional outlets for both education and entertainment.

The RLC, which welcomes patients and loved ones, as well as members of the general public, is located on the second floor at CINJ and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

CINJ - a Center of Excellence at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School - is one of only a handful of the nation's 40 Comprehensive Cancer Centers that have a resource library for patients on site. CINJ is New Jersey's only cancer center to receive the Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute, based on numerous components including patient education.

CINJ experts available for comment include:

Janet Lasin, MLS, BS, is the medical librarian at CINJ's RLC. She plays an essential role in reviewing and selecting all multi-media materials for the RLC and assists patients, family members, and members of the community in selecting appropriate cancer-related materials tailored to their individual needs. Lasin also helps patients navigate health-related websites and can discuss the important role the Internet and web-based information now play in a patient's journey through cancer.

Leah Scaramuzzo, MSN, RN-BC, AOCN, is the associate director of Nursing and Patient Education at CINJ and the chair of the Patient Education Committee. Scaramuzzo oversees -- and has been instrumental in building -- the RLC, and can discuss the importance of a wide variety of educational and resource materials being made readily available to cancer patients, especially after diagnosis.