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59 books match the query 'Public libraries' and 3 start with n

cover of Navigating Difficult Situations in Public Libraries: The PLA Guide to Trauma-Informed De-Escalation

Navigating Difficult Situations in Public Libraries

The PLA Guide to Trauma-Informed De-Escalation

Margaret Ann Paauw

American Library Association, 2025

Because libraries are community spaces that provide access to information, resources, and programming for people of all ages and backgrounds, conflicts between patrons, verbal or physical altercations, and other difficult situations can occur. These situations can be traumatic for those involved, whether patrons or staff, making it essential that librarians know how to de-escalate them in trauma-informed ways. Utilizing the framework from PLA’s best-seller A Trauma-Informed Framework for Supporting Patrons, this workbook walks readers through building micro-skills for handling difficult situations, providing
  • a succinct overview of how to define and understand trauma, including its definition, causes, effects, and manifestations;
  • evidence-informed approaches drawn from the fields of social work, psychology, and counseling;
  • dozens of activities, handouts, and worksheets designed to spur reflection and help readers build upon the practices introduced in the book;
  • guidance on debriefing, evaluation, facing compassion fatigue, and other aftercare topics; and
  • appendices that provide information on mental health resources, crisis intervention hotlines, and further reading on trauma and burnout.
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cover of New Routes to Library Success: 100+ Ideas from Outside the Stacks

New Routes to Library Success

100+ Ideas from Outside the Stacks

Elisabeth Doucett

American Library Association, 2015

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cover of Not Free, Not for All: Public Libraries in the Age of Jim Crow

Not Free, Not for All

Public Libraries in the Age of Jim Crow

Cheryl Knott

University of Massachusetts Press, 2015

Winner of the 2016 Eliza Atkins Gleason Book Award and the 2016 Lillian Smith Book Award
Americans tend to imagine their public libraries as time-honored advocates of equitable access to information for all. Through much of the twentieth century, however, many black Americans were denied access to public libraries or allowed admittance only to separate and smaller buildings and collections. While scholars have examined and continue to uncover the history of school segregation, there has been much less research published on the segregation of public libraries in the Jim Crow South. In fact, much of the writing on public library history has failed to note these racial exclusions.

In Not Free, Not for All, Cheryl Knott traces the establishment, growth, and eventual demise of separate public libraries for African Americans in the South, disrupting the popular image of the American public library as historically welcoming readers from all walks of life. Using institutional records, contemporaneous newspaper and magazine articles, and other primary sources together with scholarly work in the fields of print culture and civil rights history, Knott reconstructs a complex story involving both animosity and cooperation among whites and blacks who valued what libraries had to offer. African American library advocates, staff, and users emerge as the creators of their own separate collections and services with both symbolic and material importance, even as they worked toward dismantling those very institutions during the era of desegregation.

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