Originally presented on March 4, 2021, with Sara Zettervall presenting.
Since the first social worker was hired by San Francisco Public Library over a decade ago, libraries have continued hiring social workers at an exponentially growing rate. These new positions help staff respond appropriately to the needs of patrons who bring a whole spectrum of challenges with them to the library. But what should you do if your library doesn’t have a social worker? How should library staff respond to patrons who have broken through our cobweb-thin social safety net? Where do we draw boundaries so that we maintain a library role within continuums of care? The response highlighted in this talk is that “relationships are the new reference collection.” Through this lens, and with the help of social work concepts like person-in-environment and reflective practice, all library staff can find their place in providing human services connections at the library. Participants will leave this webinar with new ideas and tools to apply to their own work.
Social Work Students & Public Libraries
Recording (Was available until June 4, 2021)
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