Whole Person Librarianship: Social Work Concepts for Holistic Patron Services

Monday, 9/23/2019 - Friday, 10/25/2019

Whole Person Librarianship applies social work concepts to library practice to improve patron services across library types. As library-social work collaborations expand in number and type across the country, all library staff members can learn to provide more holistic service by applying tools and technique that are grounded in decades of social work practice and experience. The techniques used in a Whole Person Librarianship approach bolster library staff skills in areas of mental health, self care, and understanding and working with patrons in crisis, and more.

This course will engage learners in a personalized project that they develop over the course of five weeks, focused on these topic areas: introduction to library-social work collaboration, Person-in-Environment, resource mapping, Cultural Humility, and Reflective Practice. Participants will gain new perspectives on service that they can apply from the front line to the board room.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, the participant will be able to:

  • Explain the importance of library-social work collaboration in a contemporary library service.
  • Describe key social work concepts for a whole person approach to library service
  • Apply key social work concepts to their own library work.

Who Should Attend

Library staff who work with special populations, library staff who provide outreach and engagement services, library managers, regional and multitype library administrators, library consultants. Library staff who work directly with patron populations will benefit from new approaches to learning about and engaging with their patrons. Managers and administrators can apply whole person techniques to patron groups or to better understanding their own staff members. Library staff who work in multitype systems will learn about this trend that will likely impact libraries in their systems (if it hasn't already) and how they can better support library staff in understanding and making best use of the concepts inspired by library-social work partnerships. Library consultants will gain new skills for learning about and engaging with various patron populations.

Host

Sara Zettervall is the founding consultant and trainer for Whole Person Librarianship, which applies social work concepts to library practice. She also works at Hennepin County Library as the community engagement librarian for East African refugees in Minneapolis. Her experience includes leading innovative projects in public, academic, and school libraries and archives. She was the 2017 winner of the Bogle Pratt International Travel Fund, in support of presenting on library-social work collaboration at the Symposium of the International Consortium for Social Development in Zagreb, Croatia. A 2014 American Library Association Emerging Leader, Sara has continued to serve ALA through involvement in the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Recommendations Implementation Working Group. She has published on outreach services in Public Libraries, VOYA, American Libraries, and Library Youth Outreach. She holds an MLIS from St. Catherine University (St. Paul, MN) and a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan.

Registration

Cost

  • $130 for ASGCLA members
  • $175 for ALA members
  • $210 for non-ALA members
  • $100 for student members and retired members

How to Register

  • Online
  • By Fax: download, complete, and fax form (PDF format) to (312) 280-1538
  • By Mail: download, complete and mail form (PDF format) to American Library Association, ATTN: MACS/Online CE Registration, 50 E Huron, Chicago, IL 60611

Tech Requirements

ALA uses Moodle for all online educational courses. It is hosted at http://ecourses.ala.org. Learn more about Moodle at www.moodle.org

All content for this course will be provided by the instructor. No textbook required.

The Moodle login instructions will be sent the Friday before the start date. The course site will remain open one week after the end date for students to complete any assignments and submit the course evaluation survey.

Credits

Continuing Education Credit-A certificate of completion will be sent to each participant upon successful completion of each course

Although the courses are not CEU-certified, many licensing boards will accept them for credit. Requirements vary by state and school districts regarding certification and continuing education credits. The decision to grant CEU credits remains entirely up to your state or school district. If you are in need of credits, check with your state and/or school district before enrolling to determine eligibility. Some states will review your certificate of completion and course description to determine eligibility.

Contact

Questions about registration should be directed to registration@ala.org. Technical questions about the webinar should be directed to Ninah Moore at nmoore@ala.org

Thank you and we look forward to your participation!