Library Leaders’ Safety Summit

This 4-hour course is an online version of our April 2023 in-person Safety Summit and will include participants' highest rated sessions. Learn how public and academic library leaders can help make libraries safer for staff and patrons while protecting their privacy and maintaining open, accessible, and welcoming spaces.

Who should take this course

This course is for public and academic library leaders, safety and facilities heads, and other stakeholders invested in maintaining library safety.

See what one of the attendees of our in-person Safety Summit said:

"The LJ Safety Summit was one of the best professional development experiences in recent memory. The presentations and discussions were robust, timely and practical. I was energized and am excited to bring so many great ideas back to my Library system." Bridget Quinn, President and CEO, Hartford Public Library

COURSE PROGRAM

Session 1 | 12:00-12:55 pm ET

Safer Libraries for Staff and Patrons: Library Leadership Through a Trauma Informed Lens

A panel of library leaders, moderated and facilitated by an expert in trauma-informed library practices, will discuss trauma-informed leadership techniques with the goal of helping both staff and patrons feel safe in the library. The panel will focus on practical, actionable ideas. Facilitated discussion following the panel will aim to give library leaders concrete next steps to lead in a trauma-informed manner.

Led by: Melissa Munn, (she, her) Customer Experience Director, Public Operations at Pierce County Library System and Pam Ryan, (she, her) Director, Service Development & Innovation at Toronto Public Library

Session 2 | 12:55-1:50 pm ET

Security Staffing Models: Police, Social Work, and Everything in Between

This panel will highlight different perspectives on security staffing, discussing the pros and cons of a range of models and their outcomes. We will also discuss how and why different security staffing decisions are made. Facilitated discussion after the panel will examine how staff can make security decisions based on their own needs.

Led by: Kaya Burgin, Branch Manager at Loveland Branch Library of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library and Leah Esguerra, (she, her) LMFT, San Francisco Public Library Social Worker Supervisor

Session 3 | 2:00-2:55 pm ET

Debriefing After a Traumatic Event: Policies and Procedures

A panel of library administrators will discuss how they communicate with staff during and after a security incident. This conversation will focus not only on best practices but on communication procedures codified in library policy, and how these communication policies help protect staff. Facilitated discussion after the panel will allow the audience to brainstorm policies and procedures for their own libraries.

Led by: Anthony Wilson, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Columbus Metropolitan Library and Kelvin Watson, Executive Director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District

Session 4 | 3:00-3:55 pm ET

Engaging with Tweens and Teens in Crisis (and Afterward)

A panel of experts on working with young adults outside the library profession will share insight from their own fields on how to manage and de-escalate situations involving tweens and teens in crisis. The panel will be moderated by a librarian and facilitated discussion after the panel will focus on how these insights from other fields can be put into practice in a library environment.

Led by: Tim McLeod (he, him, his) SparkED facilitator, Alex Nyquist, PhD (she, her) is a licensed Pediatric Psychologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), Stephen Jackson, (he, him) Director of Equity and Antiracism, Oak Park Public Library