Racine Public Library: Library Social Worker
Racine Public Library hired a full-time social worker in Fall 2021. This is the information they shared with us about their position and experience as a library social worker. Response dated June 2022.
What is your library?
Racine Public Library
What is your title?
Library Social Worker
How long have you been in your current position?
9 months
Please describe your educational background or training
[Social Worker’s name], MSW, (she/her) is a Library Social Worker at the Racine Public Library (RPL). She is a first-generation college graduate who earned her B.A. from Carthage College in 2019 and a Master in Social Work from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2021. Prior to RPL, she worked as a Bilingual Service Coordinator for a Birth to Three Agency. Her volunteer and internship experiences include homeless shelters, food and clothing pantries, an in-patient psychiatric hospital for adolescents, a residential addiction treatment center and a family and aging center, amongst many others. This wide variety of experiences confirmed her interest in true generalist social work practice. Being the first full time social worker on staff at RPL has allowed her to hone in on her passion for creating an inclusive space for all, while navigating the unique challenges of library social work.
Is your position full or part-time? If part-time, how many hours/week are you scheduled?
Full time
Please describe your main responsibilities.
- Identify and engages with individuals who may benefit from social service support through outreach, direct observation, or referral by Library staff.
- Provide short-term case management for individuals who would benefit from case management services
- Provides current and relevant information, support, referrals, and assistance to individuals experiencing mental health issues, substance abuse, unstable housing, exclusion issues, trauma, or other life challenges
- Connect and builds collaborative relationships with community organizations
- Oversee the Sensory Room Space
- Participate in Team Leadership Meetings by prepare reports on services provided, including statistics, outcomes, and impacts, as well as other updates.
- Assist Library Administration in modifying appropriate Library policies and procedures; develops policies and procedures around issues related to social work
- Oversee social work interns by providing weekly supervision and direction
What are you hoping your role will do in your library and your community?
My hope is that this role provides a resource for anyone in the community who needs it. Having a social worker in the library not only de-stigmatizes social services, but it also helps bridge a gap of staff who are not necessarily trained to offer social services or mental health support to individuals coming to the library in need of it.
How do you make decisions when interacting with a patron exhibiting psycho-social needs in the library?
I assess what their needs are by listening to what the patron is asking for and asking the appropriate questions to gauge where they are at. Most often, patrons come to me with a specific need and when they communicate that with me, I offer resources that could be helpful depending on their situation. In difficult or more in-depth situations, I will confer with the Leadership Team to discuss best next steps (for example, the banning of patrons).
What resources do you rely on to support your work?
I rely on the leadership team for support, as well as all other staff. By collaborating together we can make the most impact—whether that be staff referring patrons to make an appointment with me when they are unable to meet their psychosocial needs, or for me to work with staff to create meaningful programming or run our sensory room. I also heavily rely on support from other agencies in the community. Early on I met with many agencies not only to be aware of the resources available in the community, but to build relationships with them as well and open the door for the possibility of collaborating in the future to create programs here at the library.
Were there pre-existing protocols or documentation the library had in practice for handling psycho-social community needs prior to your hire?
There were not pre-existing protocols or documentation the library had in practice for handling pyscho-social community needs prior to my hiring.
Do you staff a public service desk? If yes, how many hours on average per week?
I do not staff a public service desk. I hold drop in hours twice a week, but am still available by appointment Monday-Friday 9a-4p (with the exception of Wednesdays, which I am available 1p-7p).
Have you established protocols for other librarians on duty to follow, particularly when you are not on the desk?
Yes, as far as patrons requesting an appointment with me when I am not in the office, staff know to have them fill out an appointment request form that I made, and they leave that form on my door for me to reach out to patrons.
Do you assist with staff training, if so how often?
So far I have not, but I just recently became a Certified Instructor through the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), and I, along with two colleagues, will be providing training to all staff around Verbal Intervention practices to de-escalate situations.
Please describe the reporting or documentation protocols you follow when handling a patron interaction. What pieces of information are you tracking (demographics, referral sources, etc)?
I created an Excel sheet to track patron interactions. I track the date of the interaction, nature of the concern, brief summary/details of interaction, whether the interaction was a walk-in, staff referral or appointment, language of the interaction (Spanish or English), whether it is an initial interaction with a new patron or a repeat patron, and I just recently started tracking municipality. Due to privacy and confidentiality concerns, I do not track names or any other identifying information on this excel sheet, and only do so in my private notes to keep track of contact information.
Please estimate the percentage of interactions you have with patrons that are first-time, and what percentage are repeat customers?
In a month, my estimate is an even split 50% interactions with first-time patrons and 50% repeat.
What are you measuring to indicate success?
Number of patron interactions and overall successful referrals. There are many moving parts to my role since I am building it as I go, and other indicators of success include but are not limited to—the use of the Sensory Room that I created, successful policy revisions, staff surveys, etc.
What community partnerships are most valuable to you as a library social worker? How do cultivate those partnerships?
Every agency/organization I have met with since I have started my role has been crucial to my role and beneficial to the patrons that I refer to them. To list a few, some of the most important partnerships include the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which I have collaborated with to do programming at the library, education and resources information, and even crisis prevention training for staff. The American Heart Association has also been a valuable partnership in that they provided education/training to staff about Blood Pressure, and also provided direction and support for the library to be able to offer Blood Pressure Monitors available for patrons to check out. Cultivating these partnerships took time and a lot of effort, but simply reaching out and expressing shared values and goals goes a long way.
On a scale of 1 through 5, where 1 is Disagree Strongly and 5 is Agree Strongly, please indicate your level of agreement with this sentence: “Our community has adequate resources for community members with psycho-social or other social service needs.”
3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree
From the following list, what are the top 3-5 needs or populations you are seeing presented in the library?
List: Unhoused or unsheltered needs; Food insecurity; Mental health needs; Job seekers; Aging population; Drug/substance abuse; Other
Unhoused or unsheltered needs, Mental health needs, Job seekers
If you would like, you can expand on your responses to the previous two questions here.
Although there is a myriad of amazing and meaningful resources in the community, I have been finding that oftentimes there are not enough resources to meet the needs of the community. Specifically when it comes to financial resources and affordable housing. There are a number of times that I have referred patrons out to an agency, who refers them to another agency, who then refers them back to me so it often becomes a cycle of a lack of resources available. There are resources that are incredibly beneficial to community members, but sometimes I find that there are not enough resources when it comes to financial assistance and housing for the unhoused or those living in poverty.
What advice might you give a library that is considering hiring a social worker?
Do it!! A Library Social Worker will work directly with individuals needing social service assistance by providing information, support, and referrals to appropriate organizations; serving as a resource for Library staff and modeling effective techniques for working with at-risk or potentially at-risk individuals; working with youth and teens to provide inclusive and engaging programs and activities and much more. Having this support is incredibly helpful to the staff, and beneficial to the community. I truly do feel and see the impact every day that this role is making here at the library and community as a whole.
If a library is unable to hire a social worker, what are the top skills or qualities you would recommend a library staff member possess in order to handle psycho-social needs in the library?
Interpersonal skills and the ability to actively listen. Other skills or qualities include being able to problem solve, assess clients and their needs, ability to work with other organizations and staff, reads professional literature and maintains working knowledge of latest trends in the field of library social work. I also think that the ability to advocate for individuals is important, along with compassion.
Is there anything we didn’t ask that you’d like to share?
Not necessarily, but if there is any other information needed please feel free to contact me!