The State of California’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) is dedicated to “supporting healthy individuals and communities free of alcohol and other drug problems.” One program ADP leaders have devised to “support” Californians is a library, the ADP Resource Center.

Many Californians, Castillo has found, are unsure where to go for impartial alcohol and drug information. “Our services are here for anyone who is interested in learning about the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs,” she says. If a public library, for example, has a customer who is looking for statistics on drug or alcohol use, or wants to learn more about a specific drug or treatment issue, the ADP Resource Center is an excellent resource.

Very popular among borrowers, according to Castillo, are DVDs and VHS videotapes with titles such as “Drug Use and Addiction,” “Co-Occurring Disorders,” “Mental Health and Drugs,” and “Methamphetamine, A Prevention Trilogy.” The audio-visual items are, Castillo says, “learning tools for not just treatment programs, prisons, school prevention programs, but also community action groups.”

The Resource Center has a clearinghouse that maintains over 600 alcohol and drug booklets, pamphlets, research papers, posters, technical manuals and other printed materials that are free to anyone who wants them. Interested parties can preview the clearinghouse catalog from the ADP website, download the order form and request whatever they wish. The clearinghouse also supports community meetings, conferences, and workshops.