by Beth Krebs-Smith, Library Director, Edgerton Public Library
In 2019, I suffered a kidney bleed that could have cost me my life had I not gotten to the emergency room as quickly as I did. The cause? Extremely high blood pressure that I didn’t know I had. I was not a regular visitor to my doctor’s office. In fact, I avoided the doctor like the plague! Had I gone for my regular checkups and kept an eye on one of my all-important health numbers, I could have saved myself a ton of pain, a huge hospital bill, and I could have saved my family a whole lot of worry.
Fast forward to 2024. I am happy to say that I was at least seeing my doctor on a regular basis. I had had a few blood tests show that my blood sugar levels were on the high side and that I was pre-diabetic. Guess what? I ignored it! Then, I received a message from my doctor that said something like, “Well, your A1C is now in the diabetic range and we have to do something about it.” Another important number that I hadn’t been paying enough attention to.
So, I admit that it was my own health that got me noodling on an idea I hoped would do our community some good. Then, I had a conversation with a contact at the Rock County Health and the subject of people not managing their health due to cost and fear came up. I realized that those were two of the biggest factors that prevented me from keeping an eye on my own health and, clearly, I wasn’t alone. That’s when the idea for a free monthly A1C and blood pressure screening was born.
Knowing the library couldn’t create a sustainable program on its own, I reached out to both the Lions Club of Edgerton and Edgerton Hospital and Health Services for assistance. While the project would never have taken off without the WiLS Ideas to Action funding, the screenings couldn’t continue beyond the first year without finding someone to help with fundraising to cover the cost of testing supplies, advertising, printed resources, etc. Since the Lions Club has diabetes education and prevention as one of their initiatives, they were excited to be involved and help provide future funding. Edgerton Hospital and Health Services agreed to provide medical professionals to assist with the screenings and to act as our source for supplies.
And then, the nitty gritty of the planning began! Initially, I had planned to offer the screenings in the library to make the experience as non-threatening for the sake of those people who just have a fear of doctors. However, when I checked into the legal ramifications for the City, our attorney said that the hospital would have to take on the medical liability under their insurance. The hospital was unable to provide the screenings at the library because our location wasn’t covered under their insurance and licensing. Fortunately, the hospital had recently opened a clinic very near the library and was able to accommodate the screenings there during the clinic’s closed hours. While it is still in a “doctor-ish” setting, the atmosphere of the clinic is very casual, as the first thing patrons see are representatives from the Library and the Lions. Our hospital representative is continuing to work on getting their licensing/insurance changed so that they can eventually provide the screenings at the library.
The screenings take about 15 minutes from walk-in to receiving results. Patrons are asked to call the library to schedule an appointment. Initially, we did not accept walk-ins. However, we found that some people only wanted a blood pressure (BP) check, which takes significantly less time, so we began to allow BP-only walk-ins. Recently, we’ve found our groove in the screening process and are able to allow walk-ins for either A1C, BP, or both as we have gotten quicker.
The screenings take place on the first Friday of each month during a 2-hour timespan. Funding from WiLS made it possible to purchase equipment that provides on-the-spot A1C results from just a finger prick. While patrons sign a waiver stating that the results of the screening are not meant to be a diagnosis, they do walk out knowing where their health is at according to the numbers and they have access to a nurse who can provide some medical advice.
The screenings began in February 2026 with a full roster of eight patrons signed up. Since then, we have seen an average of 7.75 patrons per month. Of the people we have seen for A1C screenings, 40% were in the prediabetic to diabetic range. 36% of blood pressure screenings were in the borderline to high range.
My initial research indicated that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about 23% of the population is diabetic and undiagnosed. In addition, about 48% of the people in our country have high blood pressure (CDC). My goal as I planned this project was to reach those people who, for whatever reason, were unaware of what their A1C & BP numbers are. Knowing that information – and paying attention to it – would have made a difference for me, and I wanted the library to provide a community resource that could make that difference for others.
All of this to say, THANK YOU WiLS Ideas to Action, for helping the Edgerton Public Library to bring greater health awareness to our community and encouraging our patrons to take personal control of their health.
