A Trauma-Informed Framework for Supporting Patrons by
Whether it's navigating a crisis or witnessing a community member struggling with tough times, coming face to face with trauma and adversity can be uncomfortable. But in striving to learn more about challenging behaviors, and how we can better interact with library patrons and our coworkers, we can come to see that people are complex and not simply "problems." This workbook from the PLA Social Worker Task Force (SWTF) provides a collection of powerful tools to add to your customer service toolbox. It's filled with prompts, exercises, and best practices that shed light on how trauma can affect people, helping you build confidence in your ability to support your library's patrons. You will delve into what trauma is and how it impacts library work; be introduced to a framework for utilizing a trauma-informed lens in your interactions; practice exercises to spur personal reflection on common concerns bound up with library work and the policies relating to these issues; and gain hand-on tools and techniques, including strategies for de-escalation and guidance on the impacts of involving law-enforcement and banning patrons. You will also explore various scenarios which provide the opportunity to integrate what you've learned and practice responding through a trauma-informed lens, including Mental Health Challenges Sleeping at the Library Strong Personal Odor Personal Belongings Suspected Intoxication/Under the Influence Substance Use Threatening Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior Unsheltered Teens Adult Self-Neglect Child Abuse or Assault Solicitation or Panhandling Stealing Child Unattended After Closing
Library Services and Incarceration by
As part of our mission to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all library patrons, our profession needs to come to terms with the consequences of mass incarceration, which have saturated the everyday lives of people in the United States and heavily impacts Black, Indigenous, and people of color; LGBTQ people; and people who are in poverty. Jeanie Austin, a librarian with San Francisco Public Library's Jail and Reentry Services program, helms this important contribution to the discourse, providing tools applicable in a variety of settings. This text covers practical information about services in public and academic libraries, and libraries in juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons, while contextualizing these services for LIS classrooms and interdisciplinary scholars. It powerfully advocates for rethinking the intersections between librarianship and carceral systems, pointing the way towards different possibilities. This clear-eyed text begins with an overview of the convergence of library and information science and carceral systems within the United States, summarizing histories of information access and control such as book banning, and the ongoing work of incarcerated people and community members to gain more access to materials; examines the range of carceral institutions and their forms, including juvenile detention, jails, immigration detention centers, adult prisons, and forms of electronic monitoring; draws from research into the information practices of incarcerated people as well as individual accounts to examine the importance of information access while incarcerated; shares valuable case studies of various library systems that are currently providing both direct and indirect services, including programming, book clubs, library spaces, roving book carts, and remote reference; provides guidance on collection development tools and processes; discusses methods for providing reentry support through library materials and programming, from customized signage and displays to raising public awareness of the realities of policing and incarceration; gives advice on supporting community groups and providing outreach to transitional housing; includes tips for building organizational support and getting started, with advice on approaching library management, creating procedures for challenges, ensuring patron privacy, and how to approach partners who are involved with overseeing the functioning of the carceral facility; and concludes with a set of next steps, recommended reading, and points of reflection.
Library Services for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder by
Autism is now the second most commonly diagnosed serious developmental disability, and the number of children identified as autistic continues to grow. Introducing what autism spectrum disorder is, and identifying the great need to build and manage programs for autistic youth, Farmer offers librarians in or outside a school environment all the information they need to build a library literacy program geared towards these children. Designed to both awaken sensitivities of library staff and address the questions of those who are already aware of the issue, this book *Shows how autistic children are increasingly mainstreamed into traditional library and school programs and identifies the special needs and issues they face in a library setting *Equips readers to meet the needs of young autistic library users with practical tools for training library staff, teachers, and volunteers *Incldes a glossary of terms and bibliography of additional resources
Crash Course in Library Services to People with Disabilities by
This book helps libraries identify and implement new ways to serve their physically or mentally disabled patients. Authors Ann Roberts and Dr. Richard Smith work at the state level with persons with disabilities. They find that very few librarians feel comfortable with providing services addressed to the needs of the disabled, yet those who do offer services and programs other libraries can adopt and adapt. Crash Course in Library Services to People with Disabilities will help librarians get up to speed in understanding disabled persons and what they can do to make library premises and holdings more accessible to them. It provides basic information on the different types of mental and physical disabilities a librarian might encounter, then offers a range of exemplary policies, services, and programs for people with disabilities--efforts that are in place and working across the country.
Public Library Services for the Poor by
This ground-breaking work demonstrates how five Key Action Areas adopted by the ALA Council (Diversity, Equity of Access, Education and Continuous Learning, Intellectual Freedom and 21st-Century Literacy) apply especially to this disadvantaged population and motivates librarians to use creative solutions to meet their needs.
Librarians As Community Partners by
Including 66 focused snapshots of outreach in action, this resource reflects the creative solutions of librarians searching for new and innovative ways to build programs that meet customer needs while expanding the library's scope into the community. This contributed volume includes A huge array of program options for partnering with other community groups Outreach in action through writing essays, poetry, and fiction Event planning for library anniversaries, book festivals, science projects, and student athletesWith a wide range of contributors, this book will give you a multifaceted approach for reaching out within your community.
Serving New Immigrant Communities in the Library by
Build strong bridges with new members of your community. With this insightful guide, you will learn how to assess your current organizational performance with immigrants, gather data, and use that information to gain support for organizational initiatives. You will also discover how to adapt policies to better fit changing needs, overcome language barriers, develop public relations strategies that reach immigrants, and build culturally relevant collections, services, and programs for a changing community. Filled with quotes, anecdotes, and profiles from the author's research with immigrant communities, the book provides both a positive vision and practical plan for serving immigrants in your library, school, or organization.
Providing free, basic services does not prohibit cost-recovery: see Virginia library standards.
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