I just wanted to give a plug/shout-out to the session that will be led by some amazing social workers at ALA this year. The content sounds very “whole person” to me!
Compassionate Service: Promoting Dignity for Marginalized Patrons Through a Holistic Approach
ALA Unit/Subunit: PLA
Meeting Type: Program
Cost: Included with full conference registration.
Open/Closed: Open
In the last few years many public libraries have hired social workers to address the needs of customers experiencing life challenges. In this session, library administrators and social work teams from the Denver and San Francisco public libraries will discuss best practices, challenges, and results their libraries have seen by integrating a holistic social service program into their library’s service plan. The holistic approach builds a new team dynamic for library professionals and social workers, combining their skills and working together creating a totally new paradigm for service bridging the two professional worlds of librarianship and social work. Marginalized patrons benefit most when they can receive assistance to navigate the complex social service system in the library environment. When library programs and services are discovered in tandem with a social worker’s connections to community resources, new breakthroughs are realized that neither profession could manage on their own.
Speaker(s)
-
Tom Fortin
Chief of Main, San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco Public Library -
Leah Esguerra, LMFT
Social Worker/ Social Service Team Supervisor
San Francisco Public Library/San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing -
Elissa Hardy, LCSW
Community Resource Manager
Denver Public Library -
Patrick Lloyd, LMSW, LMSW
Community Resources Coordinator
Georgetown Public Library
Whole Person Librarianship 