Nabokov, Naipaul ... and Narcan? Kern Libraries' naloxone program still going strong

Since October, Beale Memorial Library and its 22 branches have stocked and distributed free naloxone kits to the public. Librarians wholly agree it was the right move. Parents, Travis said, are still a little apprehensive.

“Some think for some reason it would be encouraging (kids) to use substances,” Travis said. “But it’s still going to happen, whether they grab Narcan or not. But having it on hand can save a life for someone who maybe didn’t know their life was at risk.”

Shalyn Pineda, the county library’s regional supervisor, wasn’t too sure either, at least at first. In September, she met with officials from Kern’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Services to discuss whether to store the nasal spray en masse at the library.

Then, a teen, who looked no older than 17, Pineda said, strolled up to the front entrance outside Beale Memorial Library, and collapsed.

“He overdosed in front of the library,” Pineda said. “Right as we were in conversations to get this started.”

Luckily, an ambulance arrived within minutes, and the teen was taken to the hospital. He was back at the library four hours later, as if nothing had happened.

“I honestly thought I was seeing things,” Pineda said. “Because when he left in the ambulance, I thought he was dead.”

Pineda acknowledged the incident opened her eyes to how prevalent drug use is in the community. The library agreed to the program, and by the end of December, county libraries distributed 410 naloxone kits.

“The program was so popular, we nearly ran out,” Pineda said.

Staff decided, with county approval, to apply to the state’s Naloxone Distribution Project to claim their own supply. They were approved a couple of weeks later, and within days thereafter, Kern Library staff received a pallet of nearly 2,000 packs, free of charge.

The state has since 2018 given out 2.1 million naloxone kits to businesses and public facilities, and with those have reversed more than 135,000 overdoses. According to Jamie Bowman, the program coordinator of prevention at KBHRS, 95 overdoses were reversed in Kern last year, using some of the 3,500 kits they distributed.

Pineda said the program is very easy to run: Library staff provides Narcan to anyone who requests it. In exchange, applicants are asked to fill out a survey, asking about themselves and whether they’ve used Narcan on anyone. Then there's a quick tutorial, which takes a couple of minutes.

“When it comes down to it,” Pineda said. “Narcan is very easy to use and doesn’t take very long to learn.”

In 2021, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, 232 people died as a result of fentanyl overdose. Those who come to claim naloxone, Pineda said, are a wide mix of people, but a significant number of them are seniors.

“A lot of them are being prescribed opioids,” Pineda said. “And so they want to have something just in case they forget and take their medications twice.”

With the sharp rise in use of fentanyl — which is much more powerful than heroin and other opiates — there is far less time to react or rely on an ambulance. An overdose of heroin can span one to two hours between use and their last breath. With fentanyl, that’s shaved down to 15 minutes.

“We have had some close calls at a few of our branches and some scary incidents where if we had had Narcan available to us, we would have responded much more quickly,” Pineda said.

Now, librarians watch for signs of overdose in library patrons — paleness, shortness of breath means heroin and a sudden collapse when it’s fentanyl — and administer naloxone when needed.

This is a clear indication that the role libraries play in our everyday lives is constantly changing. Libraries are increasingly the community catch-all, complete with adjunct education on everything from the English language to job training to summer camps. For many, especially those in poorer neighborhoods, libraries are a lifeline to their patrons.

“It seemed like kind of an obvious solution,” Pineda said. “We’re in so many communities."