Campaspe Library Service
Bayside Library Service
Bayside Library Service has been very proactive in serving their community. They cater for more traditional forms of outreach by serving over 100 clients via Home Library Service, building on from this they have developed a relationship for Home Library Service with Aged Care Facilities and Council (Aged Care Department) for assessments of clients. They also hold Bibliotherapy sessions where library staff read short stories and poetry to residents living in Aged Care Facilities.
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Maribyrnong Library Service
San Francisco Public Library
Whole Person Librarianship
Denver Public Library (Colorado)
At Campaspe Regional Library we take and make every opportunity to actively engage with our communities because we believe that one positive experience with one entity may leave a lasting impression on the entire organisation. It is not always about the learning, it’s about the interaction, the experience and the social connection.
We believe public libraries play a central role as a social place for their communities with most libraries having spaces for learning, creating, thinking, experiencing and sharing.
But what happens to those community members who cannot come to us? Whether they are physically unable, psychosocially or cognitively challenged, isolated by choice, location or situation – what are their options?
In the Denver Public Library (Colorado) we have 2 social workers and 3 peer navigators who work to engage people experiencing life challenges. (Life challenges being anything: homelessness, mental health issues, substance issues, poverty, domestic violence, etc.).
We hold drop in hours in the library for people to come to us, and we also do outreach in the library: walking around connecting with people, offering water and/or socks, etc. In addition the social workers accompany security on any incidences, as we know there is probably something we can help with if they are having a security contact.
The Outreach Services Librarian for Maribyrnong Library Service has a joint role. Chiara runs a busy Home Library Service (assisted by volunteers) and also leads the Library’s Outreach Program.
As part of her outreach role, Chiara visits many organisations in the municipality monthly, with bulk loans of materials for the participants/residents. These include the Maribyrnong Detention Centre, Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, High Point Industries (a sheltered workshop) and several nursing homes. Programs in these centres, such as Book and DVD Discussion Groups, have been held in the past but are no longer viable due to security restrictions in some instances.
San Francisco Public Library is the first library in the United States to hire a full-time social worker. The program has become a national model on which other libraries create their social service programs. Aside from myself as a social worker, the program also employs 7 Health and Safety Associates (HASAs) who are individuals who were once homeless themselves, have experience of usage of the social service system in San Francisco (shelter system, public assistance, and/or substance abuse treatment and/or mental health treatment). They were able to recover from homelessness and now working at SFPL as outreach workers.
Whole Person Librarianship serves each patron based on the context of their lives and the social systems surrounding them. This approach sees the parallel between the work of librarians and social workers and explores how they can best work together for the benefit of their customers/clients.
Social workers provide a direct response to the needs of patrons experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity who seek shelter in urban libraries, often because they have no other safe, freely accessible place to go during the day. However, the benefits of collaborative work between librarians and social workers extend to all patrons.
State Library of Queensland
Deborah Miles is a social worker at the State Library of Queensland (SLQ). Within the library Deborah focuses on supporting public libraries. Rather than providing direct services to socially isolated individuals or to those experiencing homelessness, the SLQ ensures that public library staff are better equipped to help these members within their own community. This is done by building skills, providing funding, advocating the role of libraries, attracting partnerships and creating policies).
This map is a guide to which Victorian Public libraries currently have innovative outreach practices that support socially isolated members of the community; including people with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness or living in remote locations, and institutionalised or marginalised groups. This map also includes external agencies who are currently in a relationship or partnership with a public library in relation to outreach practices.