Creating Safer Libraries: Foundations for Librarians and Frontline Staff

Librarians and frontline staff often have to be mediators in moments of high tension. Safety concerns are on the rise at libraries, and it can be difficult to know your options for managing these challenges. This course, intended for librarians and frontline staff, will teach you trauma-informed practices for handling safety concerns and conflict in order to promote safety in your library.

Upon completion of this course, you will be equipped to:

Approach safety from a trauma-informed lens
Use NARCAN to respond to opioid overdose crises
Use tools to stay grounded in your values during conflict
Understand youth developmental norms
Engage with youth in crisis in an authentic, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate way
Establish professional and healthy boundaries
Resolve conflicts in a trauma-informed way Know when to disengage and ask for support

Featured Sessions

Session 2 | 12:25-1:10 pm ET

Safer Libraries for Staff and Patrons: Trauma-Informed Librarianship

Trauma-informed practice is essential for creating an environment of safety and care. This session will teach you the foundations of trauma-informed principles to apply to your library especially, but not exclusively, in moments of crisis. These practices will be actionable and relevant whether you’re interacting with patrons, colleagues, or turning trauma-informed care toward yourself.

Session 5 | 2:55-3:40 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.

Session 6 | 3:45-4:30 pm ET

Conflict Resolution, Boundaries, and Self-Care in a Customer Service Role

Librarians and frontline staff often have to navigate tense or unsafe situations. How do you simultaneously attempt to resolve conflict and maintain your personal boundaries and self-care all while in a customer service role? How do you respond to an unruly patron, and at what point do you disengage and ask for support? This session will discuss conflict resolution and give you practical tips for identifying and articulating your boundaries as well as proactively scripting responses to incidents in your library.

See the full program here.