NYS Library Blog

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

During my time practicing social work in a library setting, I’ve learned that these practices intertwine in nearly every library environment and manifest in various forms. Even without a social worker on staff, libraries serve as vital community resources that support the social well-being of their patrons. In fact, social work is likely happening in your library, even without a social worker present.

Social work in the library can include:

• Hosting a social worker to meet patron needs
• Providing support and training for library staff
• Creating and updating community resource lists
• Inviting neighboring social service organizations to table or host events in the library
• Organizing food drive events 
• Coordinating toy drive events 
• Creating summer and winter supply bags

In my conversations with library workers, I’ve encountered concerns about whether libraries can effectively serve vulnerable community members. 

However, as a social worker, I’ve observed that regardless of whether a library has a social worker on staff, it’s helpful to recognize the many ways patrons' needs are met.  

I argue that simply by creating a free, inviting, and welcoming community space dedicated to learning, libraries serve communities in ways that social service organizations often cannot. This observation is not meant to diminish the dedication of social service organizations to their clients. However, it’s important to acknowledge the barriers that individuals face when attempting to receive services from a human services organization. These barriers can include strict attendance policies, insurance needs, and diagnosis requirements. In contrast, these barriers are not present in a library-social work partnership, nor in the dynamic ways that libraries serve all community members.

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

Whole Person Librarianship

One of the first works I delved into was Whole Person Librarianship which is written by librarian Sara K. Zettervall and social worker, Mary C. Nienow. Published in 2019, this book serves as a resource for understanding the many connections between social work and librarianship. The authors provide context on the relationship between these “Sister Professions,” offering guidance on how to integrate a social worker in your library.

There are a few approaches to bringing a social worker into a library setting. A common method in New York is to partner with a local School of Social Welfare inviting MSW students to complete part of their internship requirement in the library. Another option is to contract with an outside human services or social services agency, allowing an employee from that organization to work with patrons or staff within the library. Both of these approaches, discussed in Whole Person Librarianship, help navigate budget and civil service barriers that can arise when hiring a social worker directly.

However, when it’s possible, hiring a social worker or social work graduate student can provide significant benefits to a library, as it can further demonstrate your library’s commitment to serving all members of the community that frequent the library. This type of permanent social worker presence might even attract new library users. For more information, you can visit the Whole Person Librarianship website, which features a map showing locations of library social workers across the country, a blog, and additional information about the book.

Urban Library Trauma Study

The Urban Library Trauma Study has been instrumental in deepening my understanding of the harsh realities faced by library staff. Although the study specifically measures the challenges encountered by urban public libraries, its findings are applicable to suburban and rural libraries as well. Conducted by Urban Libraries Unite (ULU), the Urban Library Trauma study was motivated by the personal experiences of its authors, who faced trauma in their own workplaces.

During my time as a social services advocate in a public library, working directly with patrons, I had not fully grasped the struggles that library staff endure. By conducting focus groups of library staff across the country, ULU revealed the trauma and burnout experienced by library staff in urban libraries. An outcome of the study is the Library Workers Support Network, a peer-led support group aimed at fostering community and emphasizing that no library staff member has to deal with these broader social issues alone.

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Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons

Friday, March 21

10-11 AM

Online via Zoom

We are promoting the next installment of the webinar series Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons led by New York State Library Excelsior Service Fellow Antonia Bruno. Following the first installment on February 28th, Antonia will be structuring the next sessions using guided conversations on various topics recommended by participants for deeper exploration. Our intention is to foster a safe environment for participants to ask questions and to candidly discuss the challenges and strengths they see in their libraries’ ability to work with vulnerable patrons. Antonia will incorporate social work perspectives into the conversation that can help participants process their experiences and feel better prepared working with vulnerable patrons. The host and participants will hear and learn from one another.

This session will not be recorded. 

Register for Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons

Urban Librarians Unite Urban Library Trauma Study

Friday, April 25

2-3 PM

Online via Zoom

Our April webinar is offered in collaboration with the Urban Librarians Unite who will be sharing information on the Urban Library Trauma Study. The trauma study documented the trauma, stress, and burnout experienced by urban library workers and invited staff across the country to create solutions. ULU will discuss the trauma cycle, the ways that trauma manifests in the body and the brain and provide suggestions for further reading. The main goal of this installment is to give library workers the language to explain the events they have experienced, allowing for deeper individual understanding and personal advocacy for needs. 

Register for Urban Librarians Unite Urban Library Trauma Study

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

These challenges in public libraries are a reflection of social injustices across the country. Marginalized and oppressed folks turn to public libraries for safety and resources. My goal is to provide a social work perspective in supporting libraries across the state handling a shifting role in responsibilities via training and guidelines. The first session will look like an introductory course with definitions of social injustices and trauma-informed practice, as well as discussions around our biases and behaviors working with complex groups. 

This work has the potential to take varying directions in the future. The state’s goal with this initiative is to better support library workers with reaching the needs of all of their patrons, emphasizing social work approaches that can be adopted to create equity in libraries for marginalized patrons. I am hoping that we will reach a wide audience with varying perspectives and experiences in our first webinar. All are welcome! 

Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety

The New York State Library’s Division of Library Development is excited to announce a webinar series beginning February 28th from 10am-11:00am. This series will be held on a monthly basis.

The webinar on February 28th is the first installment in a series which will begin as informational and evolve to serve as a space to learn from one another’s experiences and perspectives to better support staff in meeting patrons' needs in a safe and transparent environment.

Register for Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety 

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

Social work and library work are intertwined professions when one considers the pressure placed on library staff to work with vulnerable patrons, take de-escalation trainings, gather community resources and aids mimicking social services’ jobs, just for a few examples. As a social worker who worked as a social services advocate in a public library, I can attest to the overlap of the two professions and the lack of support for library workers acting in place of social workers. The Urban Library Trauma Study sent out a survey to hundreds of library staff across the country, 255 respondents described “facing traumatic events in libraries including verbal abuse, physical assault or abuse, harassing and inappropriate behavior, and situations related to patron’s drug and alcohol use, or mental health” (2022). While this data comes strictly from library staff working in urban areas, libraries across the country are faced with similar challenges that negatively affect library workers, the library environment, and patrons all around.

Wahler et al., note “that deinstitutionalization during the 60’s and following decades increased patrons in libraries managing homelessness and mental illnesses, as they were [and are] safe and free spaces” (2020). The deinstitutionalization movement offered independence to individuals who would have otherwise spent the rest of their lives in a mental hospital, however, this movement did not offer those individuals support on how to reintegrate into society following discharge. Libraries became the spaces that people felt safe to go to. “By the early 1990’s, librarians were changing to de facto psychotherapists, security guards, surrogate parents, and advocates” (Wahler et al., 2020). Fast forward a few decades, the e-government transition in the early 2000’s added to the burden for library staff to act as social workers. A comparison is drawn between settlement houses and libraries; “social work’s settlement houses providing educational, artistic, and social programs for immigrants, the poor, and the working class” (Soska & Navarro, 2020). The beginnings of social work practice in settlement houses translate both to modern day social work and library practice. A University of Pennsylvania study notes that “public libraries are dynamic, socially responsive institutions, a nexus of diversity, and a lifeline for the most vulnerable among us” (Cabello & Butler, 2017). That statement encompasses the mission statements of public libraries; however, they are still learning how to manage working with vulnerable patrons. 

There’s push for social workers in libraries because of the aforementioned reasons; while library workers have been acting as social services agents and connecting patrons to resources, there may be a better approach. “Library social work collaborations tend to reduce the frequency in which police are called for emergency assistance, minimize escalating events, lower the suspension of patron’s library privileges, and reduce staff stress” (Johnson & Wahler, 2023). A collaborative effort between the two professions can better meet the needs of the community as well as offer a new setting for social workers to expand their practice and broaden their social justice impact. The American Library Association states, “social workers seek to identify and connect people to resources and supports that foster empowerment, resiliency, and inclusivity while libraries provide free, safe, and resource rich-spaces rooted in equity, diversity, and inclusion” (2018). The intersection of the values of each profession identifies how they help expand the work efforts of the other.  

Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety

The New York State Library’s Division of Library Development is excited to announce a webinar series beginning February 28th from 10am-11:00am. This series will be held on a monthly basis.

The webinar on February 28th is the first installment in a series which will begin as informational and evolve to serve as a space to learn from one another’s experiences and perspectives to better support staff in meeting patrons' needs in a safe and transparent environment.

Register for Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety 

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

This intersection of research is supported by my previous employment at a public library as a social services advocate while completing my Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. For the second year of my MSW program, I worked at a library on Long Island in which my role was to assist patrons with their social service needs. This included social service applications, employment searching and resume building, interdisciplinary collaboration, referral services, and community collaboration. 

I quickly realized the benefit of social work in libraries. Within my time at Lindenhurst Memorial Library, I tracked over 1,000 patron interactions in just 10 months of part-time employment. These interactions included scheduled and drop-in appointments, phone calls, emails, and referral services, and sometimes, offering a listening ear to staff. Once my role was established and promoted by the library, patron interactions skyrocketed.  

Next up: More on the intersection of social work and the library.

Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety

The New York State Library’s Division of Library Development is excited to announce a webinar series beginning February 28th from 10am-11:00am. This series will be held on a monthly basis.

The webinar on February 28th is the first installment in a series which will begin as informational and evolve to serve as a space to learn from one another’s experiences and perspectives to better support staff in meeting patrons' needs in a safe and transparent environment.

Register for Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety 

Introducing: Social Work Perspectives in the Library

The NYS Library has launched an initiative to improve the best practices of working with vulnerable populations seen every day at libraries across the State. Please join us in welcoming Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education. Antonia recently graduated with a Master of Social Work degree from Stony Brook University. She'll be using the NYS Library blog to share her expertise and ongoing work in this critical area.

Meet Antonia

As the first social worker at the New York State Library, my assignment involves conducting outreach to libraries across the State that are facing crisis while working with vulnerable patrons. I reached a wide audience through a call-out via the NYLINE listserv, where I introduced myself, described the state’s initiative to research the intersection of social work and library work and provided a bookings page for interested parties to schedule a meeting. Within the first three weeks, more than 20 library workers across the state scheduled meetings to discuss their experiences working with vulnerable patrons. Discussions focused on existing support structures (or lack thereof) available to help libraries serve these communities and identifying gaps in much needed services. We also discussed their thoughts on social work in libraries.  

To date, I have held over 40 meetings with library workers from various locations across the state, generally highlighting the significant need in many communities. These conversations highlighted common struggles experienced by New York’s public libraries. This blog series aims to share the common perspectives of those interviewed, as well as highlight best practices and showcase resources that might be helpful to public libraries serving vulnerable populations and explore the complex relationship between library services and social work.   

Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety

The New York State Library’s Division of Library Development is excited to announce a webinar series beginning February 28th from 10am-11:00am. This series will be held on a monthly basis.

The webinar on February 28th is the first installment in a series which will begin as informational and evolve to serve as a space to learn from one another’s experiences and perspectives to better support staff in meeting patrons' needs in a safe and transparent environment.

Register for Libraries Working with Vulnerable Patrons: Practices to Ensure Staff and Patron Safety