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Abstract: The Library Social Worker and the Sea of Stories: A Case Study
There’s an old saying, sometimes attributed to Henry James, that stories happen to people who know how to tell them (Bruner, 2004). In a recent research project focused on the implementation of a social worker in a public library, we found that the people we talked to had stories to tell—and they knew how to tell them. A case study approach was used to investigate the experiences of the social worker, library administrators, and librarians. Interviews were conducted with nine key informants over the period of a year for the purpose of addressing the following research questions:
1. Why was a social work position added to the staff of this public library?
2. How was this position implemented and developed?
3. What outcomes has the library experienced since hiring a social worker?
4. What issues have emerged concerning how this position complements and/or competes with the professional responsibilities of librarians and other library staff?
Participants were asked about their perceptions of the social worker’s integration into the public library context in terms of benefits and challenges, emerging issues, and results. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and were then analyzed by both researchers using the constant comparative method (Glaser and Strauss, 1967).
Though collecting stories was not the primary focus of this research, in fact, several kinds of stories were told during data collection. Some were brief, some a bit longer, but there was no mistaking the narrative nature of this discourse. Specifically, participants told stories about:
• The library as a service organization, both before and after the introduction of the social worker;
• The library’s patrons, particularly those with social services needs;
• The social worker and her impact on patrons and staff;
• Themselves and their preparation, both formal and informal, for providing social services information.
From this “sea of stories,” several themes emerged:
• The library was portrayed as an organization engaged with the community but also dictated to by county government.
• Librarians and administrators were portrayed as resourceful and dedicated but generally unprepared for the realities of working with patrons who have various social services needs.
• The social worker was portrayed as a kind of hero, someone who helped librarians and administrators by helping patrons and who also helped address county government’s vision of what the library should be.
Participants felt the social worker could be used to help “tell the library’s story” not only to county government, but to the community at large.
Ultimately, of course, we as researchers are crafting our own story from this sea of stories about how a social worker was integrated into a public library, and that story, along with how it came together, will be the focus of this presentation.
1. Why was a social work position added to the staff of this public library?
2. How was this position implemented and developed?
3. What outcomes has the library experienced since hiring a social worker?
4. What issues have emerged concerning how this position complements and/or competes with the professional responsibilities of librarians and other library staff?
Participants were asked about their perceptions of the social worker’s integration into the public library context in terms of benefits and challenges, emerging issues, and results. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and were then analyzed by both researchers using the constant comparative method (Glaser and Strauss, 1967).
Though collecting stories was not the primary focus of this research, in fact, several kinds of stories were told during data collection. Some were brief, some a bit longer, but there was no mistaking the narrative nature of this discourse. Specifically, participants told stories about:
• The library as a service organization, both before and after the introduction of the social worker;
• The library’s patrons, particularly those with social services needs;
• The social worker and her impact on patrons and staff;
• Themselves and their preparation, both formal and informal, for providing social services information.
From this “sea of stories,” several themes emerged:
• The library was portrayed as an organization engaged with the community but also dictated to by county government.
• Librarians and administrators were portrayed as resourceful and dedicated but generally unprepared for the realities of working with patrons who have various social services needs.
• The social worker was portrayed as a kind of hero, someone who helped librarians and administrators by helping patrons and who also helped address county government’s vision of what the library should be.
Participants felt the social worker could be used to help “tell the library’s story” not only to county government, but to the community at large.
Ultimately, of course, we as researchers are crafting our own story from this sea of stories about how a social worker was integrated into a public library, and that story, along with how it came together, will be the focus of this presentation.