Book clubs and discussion groups provide opportunities for hospital librarians to reach out to staff from all areas of their facilities while introducing them to literature reflecting participants' personal and professional interests. Librarians presenting these case studies have coordinated local book clubs where topics ranged from titles about the nature of healing, to leadership development, and patient-centered care. Some also included contemporary novels of interest to participants. No matter the setting or scope of material discussed, each group has provided unique networking opportunities for staff to meet others working in various departments of their facilities.

E-readers provide an opportunity for hospital librarians to reach out to staff and patients with new approaches to library lending. Librarians in four Veterans Health Administration medical centers are using e-readers to enlarge their scope of service in unique ways. The libraries of VA hospitals in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Tampa, and Philadelphia have developed several ways to reach out to new library users.

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Columbia has become the first university in North America to create a comprehensive sustainability strategy. The university has identified 68 targets and actions for achieving nine major sustainability goals. These include reducing pollution, conserving resources, and protecting biodiversity in order to create a model sustainable community (Source: UBC Sustainability Office 2006). The Life Sciences Centre is seen as exemplifying UBC's commitment to sustainable development and is regarded as a model of environmental stewardship.

In late fall of 2013, three highly experienced knowledge management professionals from the US Department of Veterans Affairs established a checklist for federal medical librarians. A metric was created to assist federal medical librarians with refreshing their competencies, skills, and abilities, and to align their knowledge management aptitude with their organization's strategic objectives for optimal return on investment. The authors selected 10 categories of functional areas and identified appropriate resources for each category. Based upon the input from the federal library community regarding the value of the categories and resources, the Checklist was updated to include resources deemed by the authors as authoritative and worthy for inclusion. In November 2014, the updated Checklist was e-mailed back to the same federal library community. It is our pleasure to share the Checklist (attached) with federal medical librarians, as well as others in the profession, in the hope that newcomers and experienced librarians can benefit from our experiences.