Episode 14: Dr. Rachel D. Williams

Incorporating social work concepts into LIS education

Dr. Rachel D. Williams is a former public librarian and current LIS educator at the University of South Carolina’s School of Information Science. We explore USC’s new library social work certificate program, integrating social work components into LIS education, boundary management, and the necessary components to support library workers.

Below is a snippet of our conversation:

Topics

• ​​0:00 Intro

• 1:41 Rachel’s path to library social work

• 4:34 LIS education

  • SW In Libraries certificate (More information pending)

• 7:53 Crisis management and rapid response learning

• 12:42 Empathy, leadership, and community outreach

• 13:27 Integrating social work/empathic skills into LIS education

  • Openness and willingness of LIS to be open to SW concepts

  • Creating a trauma informed classroom

  • Perspective taking exercises

  • Emergent Strategy by adrienne marie brown

• 18:29 Boundary management for librarians

• 23:45 Necessary supports for library workers:

  • Training for administrators

  • Role clarification

  • Enhancing community partnerships

  • Advocating for social workers in libraries

• 28:22 Benefits of focus groups and boundary management: Naming the work

• 32:25 To learn more about Rachel’s work: theradicalempathylab@gmail.com

• 33:49 Dog walking, audio books, and ceramics!

• 37:03 Outro

• Get updates via Substack or LinkedIn

• Follow on iTunes or Spotify

Links

• Johnson, S. C. (2023). Teaching social work concepts to LIS students [Conference proceedings]. 2023 ALISE Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2023.1282

• Ogden, L. P., & Williams, R. D. (2022). Supporting patrons in crisis through a social work-public library collaboration. Journal of Library Administration, 62(5), 656-672.

• Rachel on LinkedIn

• Williams, R., Gross, M., Latham, D., Baum, B., Dudak, L.T., Freeburg, D., Crooks, S., & Johnson, S.C. (2024, October 15). Navigating the modern libraryscape: The changing roles, labor, and education of public librarians. 2024 ALISE Annual Conference, Portland, OR.

• Williams, R. D., Dumas, C., Ogden, L., Flanagan, J., & Porwol, L. (2024). Virtual reality training for crisis communication: Fostering empathy, confidence, and de-escalation skills in library and information science graduate students. Library & Information Science Research, 46(3), 101311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2024.101311

• Williams, R. D., & Ogden, L. P. (2023). Reflecting on Public Library–Social Work Collaboration: Current Approaches and Future Possibilities. In C. W.-C. Kaurri & M. Bharat (Eds.), How Public Libraries Build Sustainable Communities in the 21st Century (Vol. 53, pp. 263–271). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-283020230000053024

• Williams, R. D. (2021). Vulnerability, Boundary Management, and Providing Information Services to People Experiencing Homelessness. Public Library Quarterly, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2021.1934319

• Williams, R. D., & Ogden, L. P. (2021). What knowledge and attitudes inform public librarians’ interactions with library patrons in crisis?. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 53(1), 62-74.

• Williams, R. D., & Saunders, L. (2020). What the field needs: Core knowledge, skills, and abilities for public librarianship. The Library Quarterly, 90(3), 283-297.

• For a list of additional resources, check out the Bibliography page