Registration is Open for our Reducing Staff Stress and Trauma Course + Workshop!
In our online Reducing Staff Stress and Trauma half-day workshop, you will learn how workplace stress impacts you, your staff, and your library. Explore how to plan and implement strategies to increase support for staff, reduce avoidable stressors, and respond effectively to unavoidable stress with guest speaker Beth Wahler, PhD, MSW. You will leave understanding how to assess your library’s unique needs, and you will get support creating a plan to take actionable next steps to address stress and trauma in your library. The live program runs on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 from 12:00 to 4:00 pm (recorded for on demand viewing) with an asynchronous workshop over 3 weeks.
Course Features
Live sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. (All sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.)
Facilitated discussions: Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.
Interactive working sessions: Optional breakout groups during live sessions to practice skills with peers.
Asynchronous workshop: Project-based weekly assignments to connect what you’re learning to your professional life. Includes written feedback from an expert in the field who functions as the workshop facilitator, as well as peer conversation via discussion forums.
Early access on-demand resources: Access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace.
Online Classroom: The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends.
Course Instructor
Dr. Beth Wahler, PhD, MSW is founder and principal consultant at Beth Wahler Consulting, LLC and associate research faculty and previous director of the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina- Charlotte. Dr. Wahler is a social work consultant, researcher, educator, and experienced administrator whose primary focus is trauma-informed librarianship, addressing public library patrons’ psychosocial needs (needs related to mental health, substance abuse, poverty, etc.), supporting library staff with serving high-needs patrons and reducing work-related stress/trauma, and various kinds of collaborations, services, and programs to meet these types of patron and staff needs. She has worked with multiple public libraries- urban, suburban, and rural- as well as large library systems and state library associations to provide personalized training opportunities, conduct needs assessments, and develop individualized plans to help meet the needs of their patron populations and staff. She has also published and presented internationally on library patron and staff needs, trauma-informed librarianship, and library/social work collaborations. Her recently published book, “Creating a Person-Centered Library: Best Practices for Supporting High-Needs Patrons,” focuses on strategies for supporting patrons with psychosocial needs while simultaneously supporting library staff.
