One Year of Library Social Work 🎉 & Updates

Gratitude, growth, and a glimpse of what’s next

It’s hard to believe a full year has passed since the first episode of the Library Social Work podcast aired and this Substack went live. Whether you’ve tuned in regularly, followed the show, or reached out: thank you. Your feedback and encouragement have helped sustain this work.

With 18 episodes and nearly 2,500 downloads, I’m proud of what we’ve built together. My goal from the start was to create a free, educational resource for social workers, librarians, students, and anyone interested in the evolving intersections of library work and social work.

Updates:

For the rest of this year, I’m taking a break from the podcast. I’ll be focusing some of that time on helping organize and facilitate the first conference dedicated to social workers based in public libraries, a milestone I’m truly excited about. (There is still time for social workers to register).

In related news, last week I participated in the ITHAKA S+R Library Partnership Development Institute. As a member of their advisory board, I met with researchers and study participants to explore collaborations between public libraries and community colleges to support student needs. If you're interested in the findings, you can read the latest report here.

Looking ahead, a book chapter on library social work—co-authored with past podcast guests Paauw, Provence, Topek-Walker, and Wahler—should go to print by the year’s end.

In the meantime, I encourage you to explore past episodes you may have missed. And if you're looking for literature and research on this topic, visit the Bibliography for a curated list of resources. (I’ll be organizing that page: Please send suggestions of articles & links to include).

Thank you for being part of this growing community. I’d love to hear from you: feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or just to say hello.