State Library of Iowa

The State Library of Iowa will improve library staff capacity to address patrons’ psychosocial needs while also supporting staff well-being. This project responds to the high numbers of patrons with psychosocial needs visiting US public libraries daily, whose needs often far exceed the training of most library staff. These high-needs patrons and the challenges they bring result in growing numbers of library staff experiencing trauma and/or burnout as a result of chronic, unmanaged work-related stress. Building Library Capacity for Serving High-Needs Patrons will pilot: 1) a replicable online training program; and 2) a mental health support group for public library staff and administrators, exploring the impact of these project components on staff knowledge, work-related confidence, overall stress, well-being, and burnout. The project will result in the creation and national dissemination of a toolkit for other states and libraries wishing to create similar programs, including a detailed curriculum guide for developing modules reflective of each state or region’s local resources and context, details of lessons learned that could inform others, evaluation results, and guidance about conducting support groups for both urban and rural libraries.