Acknowledging What’s Beneath the Cover: Creating Trauma-Informed Library Workspaces

Please note: this session included individual or small group work so there will be breaks in the presentation.

Library workers experience trauma at work from multiple directions. Whether it’s abuse from patrons, coworkers, or secondary trauma from trying to meet the needs of the community that go far beyond what library services can provide, library workers take on more pressure and stress than we expected as new staff. The groundbreaking Urban Library Trauma Study (ULTS) used emancipatory and participatory action research frameworks to: 1) explore how public library workers in urban centers experience trauma while providing library services; and 2) create a path forward for exploring institutional and individual solutions that will enable library workers and their institutions to continue providing vital library services to communities in need while still caring for the well being of staff. We will discuss our series of recommendations to address the pervasive issue of trauma in the library workplace and how the library field can research solutions to problems while being radically inclusive of the workers those problems most impact.