Superior PL: Communication to Area Organizations about Social Work Intern

Example 1: Subject: Social Work Internship and Grant Information

Sent by Sue Heskin, Director

Superior Public Library is part of the City Library Collective, a group of eleven medium-sized libraries in Wisconsin. This group is participating in the Wisconsin Libraries as Centers for Community Resilience project, and they’ve secured a grant through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This grant examines the concept of “Whole Person Librarianship” and brings techniques from social work into the library to decrease barriers for patrons and staff.

The UW-Superior Social Work program and the Superior Public Library have teamed up to arrange an intern at the library. This collaboration would help the library develop a strategy for reference and referral to community services and increase staff awareness of the community resources available. We’re still in the beginning processes but have completed some necessary projects to build a strong base. So far, we’ve conducted a needs assessment among the staff to determine the psychosocial needs they witness during their interactions with the public. We’ve begun to set up trainings in response, as well as assess policies and research best practices in library services.

While our first goal was to conduct and analyze the needs assessment, we are now looking toward our next goal, which is to build relationships with organizations in the community that can connect and serve the patrons.

– Sue Heskin – Superior Public Library