Skip to main content
You're Not a Social Worker, But…

You're Not a Social Worker, But…

2026-05-13T14:00:00 2026-05-13T15:00:00 You're Not a Social Worker, But…

While library staff are not trained social workers, they are often placed in situations that require empathy, de-escalation, and informed referrals due to the growing complex behavioral, and social-emotional needs within their branch communities.This webinar is designed to provide practical, realistic tools that library professionals can use within their role and scope, without expecting them to replace trained clinicians or social service providers.

Attendees will learn how to:

  • Communicate with patrons using empathy while maintaining professional boundaries
  • Recognize and manage personal bias, stress reactions, and emotional triggers
  • Build and leverage relationships to connect patrons with appropriate community resources

Who will benefit from this program:

This training is ideal for library staff, customer service representatives, frontline professionals, supervisors, and administrators who regularly interact with the public and encounter patrons experiencing mental/emotional distress, crisis, or other complex life challenges.

This project is made possible by grant funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered by the State of Michigan through the Library of Michigan.

 , Michigan
Event Date

Start: May 13, 2026 2:00 PM

End: May 13, 2026 3:00 PM

While library staff are not trained social workers, they are often placed in situations that require empathy, de-escalation, and informed referrals due to the growing complex behavioral, and social-emotional needs within their branch communities.This webinar is designed to provide practical, realistic tools that library professionals can use within their role and scope, without expecting them to replace trained clinicians or social service providers.

Attendees will learn how to:

  • Communicate with patrons using empathy while maintaining professional boundaries
  • Recognize and manage personal bias, stress reactions, and emotional triggers
  • Build and leverage relationships to connect patrons with appropriate community resources

Who will benefit from this program:

This training is ideal for library staff, customer service representatives, frontline professionals, supervisors, and administrators who regularly interact with the public and encounter patrons experiencing mental/emotional distress, crisis, or other complex life challenges.

This project is made possible by grant funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered by the State of Michigan through the Library of Michigan.

Registration Link
PCI Webinar Library Development Virtual LSTA For Libraries

Related Events

MeL Training: Empower K-12 Research with Explora
Join us for a tour of Explora, EBSCO's engaging interface designed to support student research and classroom instruction with rich, reliable content and easy-to-use functionality.

Michigan Library Director Virtual Meeting
Monthly meeting of Michigan library directors to hear updates on news and resources from the Library of Michigan and get answers to current questions.

Introduction to Neurodiversity with Disability Network Southwest Michigan
This workshop introduces the concept of neurodiversity as the natural diversity of human brains and minds and explores the neurodiversity movement as a human rights framework.

Grants Office Hours
Join our monthly discussion about all things grants. Discuss questions about Library of Michigan grants or grants in general with staff from the Library of Michigan. We will cover planning programs, developing budgets, issues with partnerships, evaluation, managing the grant requirements, funder relationships and anything else you’d like to discuss.

Digital Collections Office Hours
Join our monthly discussion about all things digital. Discuss questions regarding digitization, digital collections, and digital preservation with staff from the Library of Michigan, DPLA Michigan Service Hub, and Michigan Digital Preservation Network.

Cataloging for non-Catalogers
Wherever you work in the library, knowledge of some basic cataloging will enhance and improve your skills in library work. This will serve as a brief introduction to cataloging for non-catalogers and will help you to understand cataloging's purpose, its goals, and some of its terminology.