Navigating Difficult Situations in Public Libraries

Empower librarians to navigate conflicts in community spaces with trauma-informed strategies. Blending insights from social work, psychology, and counseling, it offers activities, worksheets, and debriefing tools to build effective conflict resolution skills, address compassion fatigue, and support well-being. 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.