The Experiences of Supervisors Overseeing Social Work Field Placements in Public Libraries

Overview: This qualitative study examines the experiences of social work and library supervisors who oversee social work field placements in public libraries. Based on the findings of this study, the presenters will offer recommendations to supervisors/field directors intending to place and support students in public libraries.Proposal text: Beyond books, public libraries are a critical gateway to human rights by providing a range of information and services spanning from internet and computer access, assistance with applications for employment, benefits, and housing, even legal assistance (ALA, 2012). Gregory and Higgins (2017), for example, argue that the values of librarianship, “such as social responsibility, democracy, diversity, access, intellectual freedom, and the public good illustrate an activist perspective inclined toward social justice’” (p. 2).

It is no surprise then that public libraries recognize the value of coordinating with social work in their efforts to serve vulnerable patrons. Yet, as Provence (2020) noted, very little research about this collaboration exists. Studies tend to focus on the experiences of the library social worker (Wahler et al., 2020), while less attention has been paid to the role of the schools of social work in these partnerships. This project is an attempt to fill that research gap.

Building on their 2021 CSWE presentation about the field experiences of social work students in public libraries, the presenters now turn their attention to the supervisors who oversaw the work of those students and often assisted in the development of those partnerships.

Using qualitative methodology, this multiple case study gave voice to these supervisors. Fifteen participants completed Zoom interviews with one of the three co-investigators. They assumed one of the following roles: (1) public library social worker who directly supervised the student; (2) off-site faculty/field office staff who coordinated the placement; (3) off-site social worker who supervised the student; (4) library staff task supervisor; or (5) a consultant in some other capacity who oversaw students’ work.

Findings of the qualitative interviews revealed five major challenges that supervisors of social work students placed in libraries faced in their work: (1) assisting students with upholding social work values and ethics, such as privacy/confidentiality, ethical resource and referral, in the tasks they took on; (2) helping students bridge the gap between meeting expectations of the library staff and requirements of the field placement; (3) being present and available for students to ensure their physical and psychological safety; (4) ensuring students develop the full range of micro, mezzo, and macro tasks that matched their experience and expertise level; and (5) finding support for their own work as supervisors of students in nontraditional field placement settings.

Based on these findings, the presenters will offer recommendations to field staff of schools of social work who place students in public libraries. Specifically, issues of structuring the placement, providing supportive supervision in a non-social work-oriented facility, and offsetting potential risks presented by the placement will be emphasized.

The majority of supervisors in the study emphatically concluded that field placements in public libraries are worthwhile partnerships for schools of social work to engage in. In doing so, both supervisors and social work students actively work to promote human rights for library patrons, and therefore the wider community.