Episode 11: Sharita Sims, MSW

As the Community Wellness Program Manager at the NYPL, Sharita describes her two-fold responsibilities of overseeing her library's social work students program and outreach to community partners.

Topics

• ​​0:00 Intro and Sharita’s background

  • 3:06 Richland Library’s (SC) social work team

  • Community health social work in rural regions

• 8:01 Library Social Work job titles and licensure

• 10:41 Sharita’s two fold responsibilities

• 11:22 Library social work at the New York Public Library (NYPL)

  • 13:00 Coordinating social work interns and outreach

  • 14:07 Assessing branches to determine placements for students

  • 16:17 Preparation is crucial

  • 17:24 Scope of internship program; structure of offsite social work supervision

• 20:27 Preparing library staff to host a SW student

• 24:04 Preparing students as well

• 25:33 Students’ services for library staff

• 29:08 Vetting potential community partners

• 33:17 Example of a community partnership

• 35:00 Steps can be scaled to smaller libraries

• 36:05 Connect with Sharita on LinkedIn

  • Email: sharitasims@nypl.org or communitywellness@nypl.org

• 36:54 No singular approach to library social work

• 38:34 Napping, getting outside, presence

Links

• Sharita on LinkedIn

• Whole Person Librarianship

• Wahler, E.A., Johnson, S.C., & Ressler, J.D. (2023). Library supervisors handbook. New Jersey State Library.

• Wahler, E.A., Johnson, S.C., & Ressler, J.D. (2023). Student handbook. The New Jersey State Library.

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• For additional resources, check out the Bibliography page