Community resources and initiatives take many forms in libraries. This toolkit focuses on two areas:
- Relationships between libraries and other organizations in the community to mutually support each other’s mandates; and
- Hiring non-traditional library roles, with community support.
Where Community Resources & Initiatives Fit in the Library Journey
Key Considerations
When thinking about hiring staff to support the social services needs of a library, these resources can help by exemplifying the:
- Positions that can support librarians;
- Skills are required;
- Responsibilities these support staff have; and
- Partnership models.
Community Partners
“Partnerships have great potential to expand your library’s capacity to offer more, reach broader audiences, and leverage your resources. As libraries continually seek new ways to stretch their budgets, partnering is a valuable option to consider.” – www.librarystrategiesconsulting.org
Specifically for safety and security, there are many organizations where library patrons may benefit from referrals to services and/or organizations that may be interested in coming to the library to connect with the people they serve. Examples of community partners that have the potential to be important relationships for libraries include:
- Organizations serving Indigenous voices;
- Youth programs;
- Seniors services;
- Child and family programs;
- Faith-based agencies;
- Arts and culture programs and services;
- Mental health service providers;
- Community health services;
- Housing and homelessness supports;
- Employment and training;
- Food and emergency services;
- Literacy services;
- Newcomer services;
- Legal services;
- Emergency service providers;
- Local community groups; and
- Many others.
These relationships can be formal or informal, depending on the unique community context of each library.
Types of Partnerships
Community Partnership Examples
- Canadian Mental Health Association – London, Lethbridge, Barrie, Oshawa, Red Deer, and others
- Drop-in counseling – Edmonton, Regina Calgary
- Access to a Mental Health Crisis Team – Kingston Frontenac
- Community Crisis Workers – Toronto
- Housing workers co-located in libraries – Pickering, Edmonton, Surrey
- Service hubs in libraries co-located social serving agencies within libraries – Pickering, Edmonton, Surrey
- Community fridge – Burlington
- Legal support – Burlington, Cambridge, and Oshawa
Kingston Frontenac Public Library example
For more formal partnerships, the Kingston Frontenac Public Library has a Community Partnerships policy that provides staff with guidelines to assist in the identifying, prioritizing, and developing partnerships with community agencies, and to inform the public about the principles and criteria by which these decisions are made.
- Community Partnerships – a formal arrangement between the library and one or more community partners in which all partners are working together to achieve identified, shared goals to benefit the community.
- Collaborative Relationships – the informal sharing of information, knowledge and skills between partners, and with partners’ patrons and clients.
- Community Partner – not-for-profit groups, agencies, institutions, businesses and other organizations at the municipal, provincial, or national level.
Toronto Public Library example
In 2021, on the encouragement of the Toronto Public Library Board and City Librarian, TPL brought together a discussion table involving key stakeholders from our Board, our union, the City of Toronto, community agencies and TPL senior management, along with an external, independent facilitator. The members of the discussion table identified a series of opportunity areas that were then formulated into a comprehensive, multi-year, safety and security action plan to tackle the issue head-on.decisions are made.
- Community Partnerships – a formal arrangement between the library and one or more community partners in which all partners are working together to achieve identified, shared goals to benefit the community.
- Collaborative Relationships – the informal sharing of information, knowledge and skills between partners, and with partners’ patrons and clients.
- Community Partner – not-for-profit groups, agencies, institutions, businesses and other organizations at the municipal, provincial, or national level.
Hiring Non-Traditional Library roles
Focusing on hiring non-traditional library roles, with community support.
With the rise of incidents in libraries, patrons and staff need more support in preventing and recovering from an incident. The traditional role of a librarian cannot fill all those needs, which is why many libraries are hiring additional support staff to address those community needs.
Non-traditional roles - examples and templates
Libraries with social workers or similar backgrounds include (but are not limited to):
- In-house social work staff (Halifax, Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Mississauga, Vancouver, Brantford, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto).
- Partnerships with social work staff (Saskatoon, St. Catharines, Oshawa, Pickering, Guelph, Kingston Frontenac).
- Social work interns or practicum students from local post-secondary institutions (Barrie, Cambridge, Surrey, Toronto).
A McMaster study on social workers in Canadian libraries demonstrate where in Canada social workers (or roles similar to social workers) are being used in libraries. Geographically it ranges from Thunder Bay, to Edmonton, Toronto, Fredericton, and other regions.
The key duties of these additional support staff/social workers varies, but generally involves:
- Meeting with patrons/clients;
- Referring them to partner organizations or other social services to address their needs;
- Employee training and development;
- Incident response and outreach; and
- Serving individuals with complex needs by developing social support programs and service.
Mississauga Library
A more detailed example can be found in the Mississauga Library. The library, the City of Mississauga, and a community organization partnered together to address the growing needs of their community. Since 2017, Mississauga, in partnership with the City and Salvation Army, started a program called, Open Window Hub. Together they developed a plan to work together to address the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk for a variety of reasons. The library received a grant from Employment and Social Development Canada. This funding provided compensation for a Homelessness Prevention Outreach Worker (HPOW) for 18 months, and the Open Window Hub, a drop-in space, opened at the Central Library. To date, the Homelessness Prevention Outreach Worker has aided almost 400 individuals, averaging 14 new referrals a month, along with supporting City staff in Security Services, Animal Services, Parks & Forestry, and more. The program quickly made an impact and filled a gap in social services in Mississauga. In 2019 a full-time permanent Library Outreach Worker was approved, and the Open Window Hub became a core library service. An agreement was developed with the Region of Peel to fund 50% of this position.
Thunder Bay Public Library
Thunder Bay Public Library piloted a partnership in the summery of 2016 as a 12-week program that placed a social worker at the Brodie Resource Library for several hours each week. The social worker was employed by an organization providing subsidized housing and case management services to individuals with serious mental illness and/or addictions.
Kitchener Public Library
Thunder Bay Public Library piloted a partnership in the summery of 2016 as a 12-week program that placed a social worker at the Brodie Resource Library for several hours each week. The social worker was employed by an organization providing subsidized housing and case management services to individuals with serious mental illness and/or addictions.
Halifax Public Libraries
Thunder Bay Public Library piloted a partnership in the summery of 2016 as a 12-week program that placed a social worker at the Brodie Resource Library for several hours each week. The social worker was employed by an organization providing subsidized housing and case management services to individuals with serious mental illness and/or addictions.
Lethbridge Public Library
Lethbridge Public Library provides an example of the type of role needed in their library to address their community’s needs. In May 2022, they released a job description for a Crisis Intervention Worker, which included a detailed list of their key responsibilities, the skills and experience required, and working conditions. The key responsibilities of a Crisis Intervention Worker are to:
- Network and create referrals to maintain relationships with a variety of external community service providers, and provide patrons with the appropriate referrals to community service providers,
- Provide preventative library-wide patron supervision to identify and deter potential crisis situations before they occur,
- Everything to do with crisis intervention including, how to recognize when an incident is occurring, attend to patrons throughout the crisis, provide overdose prevention, contact security or emergency services as required, and debrief with all those involved following a crisis,
- Approaching and attending to patrons through a restorative justice lens,
- Create staff/management training opportunities to increase their capacity when responding to a crisis, and
- Other duties as required.