Keep your colleagues, patrons, and yourself safer by learning best practices for sustaining library safety. 

Course Description 

Safety concerns are on the rise at libraries, and it can be difficult to know your options for managing these challenges. This course, intended for public-facing librarians and frontline staff, will teach you how to manage conflict and safety concerns proactively by learning strategies and tactics for conflict resolution, de-escalation, and long-term safety in your library.  We’ll discuss trauma-informed practices for engaging with safety concerns, and give you tools to help you respond to security issues, file incident reports, and more in order to promote safety in your library and classroom.

You will leave this half-day intensive with new and innovative strategies to prioritize safety in your library.

The live sessions run on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 from 12:00 to 5:00 pm ET (recorded for on demand viewing). Don’t miss this opportunity!

Learning Outcomes

After you attend this interactive online course, you’ll be able to:

• Approach safety from a trauma-informed lens

• Use NARCAN to respond to opioid overdose crises

• Use tools to stay grounded in your values during conflict

• Understand youth developmental norms

• Engage with youth in crisis in an authentic, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate way 

• Establish professional and healthy boundaries 

• Resolve conflicts in a trauma-informed way

• Know when to disengage and ask for support

Who should take this course?

This course is geared toward frontline and other public-facing staff.

Course Features 

This will be a half-day online course and will include:

• Live sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. (All sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.) 

• Facilitated discussions: Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

• Early access on-demand resources: Access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace. 

• Online Classroom: The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends. 

Expected time commitment

If you attend or watch the recordings of all live sessions, you'll spend approximately 4 hours on this course. You'll earn 4 hours of PD credit and a Library Journal certificate of completion. 

On-demand access

All live guest speaker sessions are recorded and available on-demand for six months following the initial broadcast as a part of your purchase.

Certificate of completion 

Complete the course and earn 4 professional development credit hours. We provide a certificate that is emailed to you. 

Accessibility

All guest speaker sessions feature live captioning and are made available on demand after the initial broadcast. Please email libraryjournal@edmaker.co upon registration if you require any special accommodations and we will make our best efforts to facilitate them.

Support

For support with online courses, please contact libraryjournal@edmaker.co.

Group Rates

We offer discounts for groups of 3 or more. 

For larger groups of 15 or more, we offer the option to apply group rates across multiple courses to receive significant discounts. For more information, select “Bulk Course Credits Packages” in the form below. 

Request a group discount!

By registering for this event you confirm that you have read and agree to our Code of Conduct.

Half-Day Online Course | Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Session 1 | 12:00-1:30 pm ET

De-escalation Training for Libraries 

What are the root causes of escalation, and how can librarians address them? This session will provide you with techniques for emotional self-management, processes for de-escalating difficult situations, and strategies for reflective listening and discerning and acknowledging disgruntled people’s needs, interests, and emotions. Focused primarily on psychological and verbal conflict, this program will help you incorporate and practice de-escalation strategies to help promote a safer library.  

Speaker:

Break | 1:30-1:35 pm ET

Session 2 | 1:35-2:05 pm ET

Boundaries and Self-Care in a Customer Service Role

Librarians and frontline staff often have to navigate tense or unsafe situations. How do you simultaneously attempt to resolve conflict and maintain your personal boundaries and self-care all while in a customer service role? How do you take care of yourself before, during, and after incidents, and where and how can you access support? This session will give you practical tips for identifying and articulating your boundaries and identifying ways to care for yourself while at work. 

Speaker:

Lunch Break | 2:05-2:35 pm ET

Session 3 | 2:35-3:20 pm ET

Safer Libraries for Staff and Patrons: Trauma-Informed Librarianship 

Trauma-informed practice is essential for creating an environment of safety and care. This session will teach you the foundations of trauma-informed principles to apply to your library especially, but not exclusively, in moments of crisis. We will also discuss ways to process and start to heal after a traumatic event. These practices will be actionable and relevant whether you’re interacting with patrons, colleagues, or turning trauma-informed care toward yourself. 

Speaker:

Session 4 | 3:20-4:05 pm ET

NARCAN Training: Recognizing and Managing Substance Use Incidents 

How do you know when there is a potential opioid overdose incident in your library? And what can you do to help defuse the issue and support the patron if needed? This NARCAN training will teach you how to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose and administer the drug Naloxone (brand name NARCAN), a medication that saves lives by reversing an opioid overdose. Leave this session understanding your role in harm reduction in this public health crisis.

Note: The training does not provide the credentials to be a Naloxone Distribution Entity. State requirements differ. Please check with your local state HHS or Health Departments for specific requirements for your state.

Speaker:

Break | 4:05-4:15 pm ET

Session 5 | 4:15-5:00 pm ET

Engaging with Tweens and Teens in Crisis (and Afterward)

A panel of experts on working with young adults in and outside the library profession will share insight from their own fields on how to manage and de-escalate situations involving tweens and teens in crisis. The panel will be moderated by a librarian and facilitated discussion after the panel will focus on how these insights from other fields can be put into practice in a library environment.

Speaker:

Closing Remarks | 5:00-5:05 pm ET

Online Course Preview

A preview of how we build your library skills and bring inspiration to your projects with our online learning experience.

Course Features

Live session with Andrea Blackman and Tasneem Ansariyah Grace	Live Guest Speakers Sessions Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field.  Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

Recordings of guest speakers

Recordings Available On Demand Sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.

Asynchronous workshop

Online Classroom + Asynchronous Workshop The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends.  Live session recordings. Peer conversation via discussion forums.

Early Access On-Demand Resources

Early Access On-Demand Resources Bonus: Register early and get access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace.  Some courses include supporting resources in the online classroom.