American Libraries - Letter from Public Library Directors and Social Workers

https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/letter-from-public-library-directors-and-social-workers/

This letter was written and signed by 12 American library directors and social workers and identifies some highlights of how they are working with their communities. These highlights are:

  • Trauma-informed care
  • Homelessness
  • A focus on behaviour
  • Creating welcoming spaces
  • Person-first language
It provides a great list of like-minded people in American libraries.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adams, C., & Krtalić, M. (2021). I feel at home: Perspectives of homeless library customers on public library services and social inclusion.

  Adams, C., & Krtalić, M. (2021). I feel at home: Perspectives of homeless library customers on public library services and social inclusion.  Journal of Librarianship and Information Science , 09610006211053045. This is an interesting article as it has a New Zealand perspective - so not US, and allows the experiences of the people experiencing homelessness to be heard. These are the stated goals of the study reported in the paper: "The goal of this study was, therefore, to examine homeless patrons’ perspectives on public libraries, including their use of general library services and those targeted specifically toward the homeless, and in what ways engagement with library services affects their feelings of social inclusion. In doing so, this paper aims to contribute to the literature by offering insights into what constitutes effective public library programming and targeted services for homeless people." Page 1 This study interests me because it engages with the idea th...
Read more

Giesler, M. (2021). Perceptions of the Public Library Social Worker: Challenges and Opportunities. The Library Quarterly, 91(4), 402-419.

There is the idea of Social Workers in the library as working  mainly with a focus on Zetterval's 'mezzo/ approach - training staff & changing library culture - rather than 'micro' level of assisting individual patron needs. And perhaps a feeling from library staff of gratitude about the social worker's presence, but a desire to have them working at the 'micro' level rather than being trained to do it themselves? Maybe given protocols and procedures to deal with customers with high social needs is just another layer of work they do now? Author described some resistance among library staff of 'having to do social work now'. They have been trained, but this work is situated as a source of tension between their understanding of their role and their alignment with their belief that they are part of a democratic organisation and their desire to serve all people.  The lack of clear protocols regarding challenging patrons contributes to this uncertainty...
Read more

Women's Butterfly Project

Image
  The Women's Butterfly Project is a project designed by the Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University in partnership with the QLD Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, Q Shelter, Tenants Queensland, Mission Australia and a number of other partners. Their website can be accessed here:  https://research.qut.edu.au/best/projects/preventing-homelessness-for-mature-women-high-tech-vs-high-touch-support/   The premise of the project is to focus on women who are 55 or older, and to work with them BEFORE they become homeless, recognising that most programs and services associated with homelessness are focussed on people who are already homeless and/or impacted by long-term housing issues. The aim of the Project is to prevent homelessness before it occurs. The project connects vulnerable women with services and advice that can help them maintain their housing. The project is essentially toolkit collation of resources that are targetted at women...
Read more