I just finished reading this post from R. David Lankes, best known as the author of The Atlas of New Librarianship, and this related post from Anthony Molaro. Both men are professors of library and information science, and both call for action from knowledge professionals in response to this week's election. Lankes focuses on the… Continue reading Libraries and the Election: A Whole Person Response
Category: Resources
Social Work and the Limited Scope of iSchool Research
...until LIS educators teach library reading and library as place in their professional programs at the core level, and until LIS researchers ask questions about what users learn from their interaction with libraries and determine how that learning fits into their everyday lives, both are addressing only a fraction of what libraries actually do for… Continue reading Social Work and the Limited Scope of iSchool Research
Social Work MOOC Update
One thing I realized when I wrote up my reflections on the first module of this edX/University of Michigan Social Work MOOC is that one blog post per module might not be the way to go. In theory, I like the idea of some of us taking the MOOC together and then commenting on it. In practice,… Continue reading Social Work MOOC Update
Social Work MOOC Module 1: What Is Social Work?
This is the first post in a series of reflections on the University of Michigan edX course "Social Work Practice: Advocating Social Justice and Change." I was struck very early on in this module by the International Federation of Social Work's global definition of social work: Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic… Continue reading Social Work MOOC Module 1: What Is Social Work?
WPL @ ALA 2016 Wrap-up
This was a great year for Whole Person Librarianship at ALA. The panel on "Connecting Individuals with Social Services: The Academic Library's Role," convened by Samantha Hines from Missoula College Library, brought the concept of WPL to an academic audience. One of the panelists said he was glad to hear that librarians are talking about… Continue reading WPL @ ALA 2016 Wrap-up
Five Core Beliefs to Sustain Librarianship
These core beliefs are strongly influenced by Whole Person Librarianship. They were developed in response to the deprofessionalization of library tasks. They present an alternative to the neoliberalist ("retail") model of librarianship. Librarians are professionals with a unique skill set. Librarianship is grounded in and motivated by equity and social justice. Librarianship as a profession… Continue reading Five Core Beliefs to Sustain Librarianship
Patrons Experiencing Homelessness
Amy Mars and I recently presented a series of two webinars that include some principles of WPL in action. Check them out for free: Public Library Services to Patrons Experiencing Homelessness and Housing Insecurity: Part One Part One: Population and Partnering What does homelessness look like in Minnesota? How can we connect patrons with community resources?… Continue reading Patrons Experiencing Homelessness
Libraries and Social Services: An International Perspective
Check out this paper published by IFLA earlier this year: Connecting Individuals with Social Services: The Library's Role Author Samantha Hines is Head of the Missoula College Library at the University of Montana and brings a much-needed perspective on the role of academic libraries in connecting patrons with social services. She also undertook an effort to… Continue reading Libraries and Social Services: An International Perspective
WPL in Public Libraries Magazine
Two awesome articles on librarianship and social work
I can't tell you how excited I was to see this title: Westbrook, Lynn. 2015. "I'm Not a Social Worker": An Information Service Model for Working with Patrons in Crisis." Library Quarterly 85, no. 1: 6-25. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed March 31, 2015). This has by far the best… Continue reading Two awesome articles on librarianship and social work
Whole Person Librarianship 