Rusq vol. 9, no. (Winter 2019)

volume 59, issue 2 | Winter 2019 
143
Reference Books
N. Krysak, 
The Discovery Tool Cookbook: Recipes for Successful 
Lesson Plans 
(Chicago: American Library Association, 2016); 
H. McClure, P. Bravender, and G. Schaub, 
Teaching Informa-
tion Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lessons for Librarians 
(Chicago: 
American Library Association, 2015); R. Pun and M. Houlihan, 
The First-Year Experience Cookbook 
(Chicago: American Library 
Association, 2017).
Urban Health Issues: Exploring the Impacts of Big-City 
Living.
By Richard V. Crume. Santa Barbara, CA: Green-
wood, 2019. 295 p. Acid-free $61 (ISBN 978-1-4408-6171-
0). E-book Available (978-1-4408-6172-7), call for pricing. 
Due to poverty, climate change, and other factors, 
the world’s populations are becoming more urban. While 
“urban” is relative to various countries, the shift from rural 
to urban is happening worldwide. At the beginning of the 
twenty-first century, the world’s populations became, for 
the first time, evenly split between urban and rural. By mid-
century, the prediction is that most populations will live in 
urban areas. It follows that where there are more people, 
there are also more health concerns. Richard V. Crume’s 
Urban Health Issues: Exploring the Impacts of Big-City Living
is an eminently readable, accessible volume that addresses 
these health concerns.
The author’s purpose in writing the book is “to help 
urban dwellers and health professionals understand the 
complexities of urban health and prepare for a future when 
maintaining a healthy urban environment will be of utmost 
importance” (p. x). Because urban health encompasses so 
many elements, this topic is an excellent one for a general 
audience. Each of the twenty-three essays explains an issue, 
its impact on health, how various cities have implemented 
or planned to address the issue, and recommendations 
for those living in urban areas. There are also occasional 
city spotlights, which detail how a place has specifically 
addressed the health issue—Melbourne, for example, has 
implemented a detailed urban forest plan to plant 3,000 
trees a year to address warming temperatures—along with 
brief essays from experts. An appendix offers suggestions for 
urban dwellers, and there is a directory of resources.
While “urban health issues” might immediately bring 
to mind a factory chugging out polluted air, it ranges from 
“environmental pollution and the spread of infectious dis-
ease to drug and alcohol abuse and the importance of social 
support networks” (p. ix). In other words, as the world 
becomes more urban, these will just be called “health issues.” 
Plus, issues such as stress management, water and sanitation, 
and health care access affect all of us, urban or rural.
Updated works on this topic are necessary, as health 
concerns can change rapidly. 
Urban Health
, edited by San-
dro Galea et al. (Oxford University Press, 2019) would be a 
comparable volume, though more academic. However, 
Urban 
Health Issues: Exploring the Impact of Big-City Issues 
is suitable 
and recommended for public and academic libraries of all 
sizes.
—Tracy Carr, Library Services Director, Mississippi Library 
Commission, Jackson, Mississippi