Librarians facing new tasks say crisis isn’t in the catalogue
Posted August 9, 2019 11:54 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW YORK — Some public libraries are dealing with so many patrons struggling with poverty, drug addiction or mental illness that a growing number have put social workers on staff.
The Queens Public Library in New York City is one of them. It has a full-time social worker assisting patrons who take refuge in the stacks and rely on the library for access to social services.
Other libraries have been training their staff to step in when a patron is suicidal or to administer an antidote to those who overdose on opioids.
That’s caused debate among librarians about whether their changing role requires them to do work that goes uncomfortably far beyond their skill set.
Some say their expertise is in books, not social work, and they aren’t trained or equipped to provide such services.
Ali Swenson, The Associated Press
