Social Work Interest Group

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This community is for anyone interested in learning more about social work in public libraries. The PLA Social Worker Task Force will use this space to discuss issues facing public libraries, provide a space to connect with others, generate and share best practices and resources.
  • 1.  Social Work in the Academic Library

    Posted Oct 11, 2019 01:05 PM
    I just wanted to highlight that over the last few weeks there has been a fascinating conversation about social work services in academic libraries. It's fascinating to see that these conversations are occurring in academic as well as in public libraries.

    For example, this new blog post on the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) - which links to some of the documents related to this conversation (in particular a recent report by Ithaka S+R that highlights that students would enjoy the option of accessing social work services in a community college library setting):  

    "I'm not threatened by these conclusions because my first thought when I hear that a student would access a social worker's services if they were in the library is "Great, let's collaborate with a social worker," not "Oh, I guess I have to become a social worker now.""






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    Noah Lenstra
    Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science
    University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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  • 2.  RE: Social Work in the Academic Library

    Posted Oct 11, 2019 10:02 PM
    That is interesting. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. One of my interest areas is the role of academic libraries in meeting social service & mental health needs, particularly in smaller institutions that may not provide them through other avenues.

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    Kit Lowrance MSW, MSLS
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