New Mini-Conference - "The Supportive Library: Helping Patrons Experiencing Homelessness"

OVERVIEW:

Our second Library 2.024 mini-conference: "The Supportive Library: Helping Patrons Experiencing Homelessness," will be held online (and for free) on Thursday, June 20th, 2024, from 12:00 - 3:00 pm US-Pacific Time.

From a librarian’s perspective, when we think of patrons experiencing homelessness, we automatically know and understand that they are an especially vulnerable population. We also know that to work in libraries is to be on the forefront of homelessness. However, while we are working directly with vulnerable patrons, many of us may not know how to help someone who is unhoused or who is experiencing food or other insecurities. We may not understand why they don’t trust us, or why they are striking out angrily toward us. We may not know the mental challenges or trauma they are experiencing or the loneliness and isolation they are feeling. In turn, this can expose our own vulnerabilities.

What we do know is that there are many challenges for our vulnerable patrons. What can we do to help strengthen these patrons, knowing that this requires being emotionally vulnerable ourselves? How do we find the emotional strength and courage to be open and authentic? What can librarians provide? We can try to build strength with our homeless community members by recognizing and having compassion for their vulnerabilities as well as our own. From this we may foster empathy, and cultivate a greater sense of belonging within our libraries.

For this conference, we invite you to embrace vulnerability, share stories of helping vulnerable patrons, express how you have been vulnerable and needed support, and what it means to take risks and step outside of your comfort zone.

Our special conference chair is Kimberli Buckley, M.A, MLIS, Senior Community Library Manager at Contra Costa County Library, and a lecturer at San Jose State University's School of Information.

We look forward to gathering online with you for this event!

REGISTRATION:

This is a free event, being held live online and also recorded.
REGISTER HERE
to attend live and/or to receive the recording links afterward.
Please also join the Library 2.0 community to be kept updated on this and future events. 

Everyone is invited to participate in our Library 2.0 conference events, which are designed to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among information professionals worldwide. Each three-hour event consists of a keynote panel, 10-15 crowd-sourced thirty-minute presentations, and a closing keynote. 

Participants are encouraged to use #library2024 and #supportivelibrary on their social media posts about the event.

CONFERENCE CHAIR:

Kimberli Buckley, M.A, MLIS
Senior Community Library Manager, Contra Costa County Library
Lecturer, San Jose State University, School of Information
Author, Teaching Life Skills at the Library, ALA Editions 2022
ALA eLearning Instructor
OPENING KEYNOTE PANEL & SPECIAL ORGANIZER

Kimberli Buckley (she/her) is a Senior Community Library Manager at the Contra Costa County Library, a public library system that honors their mission of bringing people and ideas together. In addition to her public library work, Kimberli also teaches with San Jose State University’s School of Information. She designs and delivers courses tailored for the MLIS iSchool graduate students, focusing on relevant topics such as effectively serving unhoused library patrons and promoting accessibility within library spaces. She has a deep dedication to addressing homelessness awareness and has garnered recognition for her extensive work in serving unhoused and unsheltered patrons in Contra Costa County. Kimberli is a published author, her book Teaching Life Skills at the Library was published by ALA Editions in July 2022 and she is also an instructor for the American Library Associations (ALA) eLearning platform. She has taught courses on outreach & marketing, adulting for teens, and the development of homeless engagement programs. Her Master’s in Library Science from San Jose State University is complemented by a Master's in Consciousness Studies from John F. Kennedy University. With over fifteen years of invaluable experience in the library field, Kimberli’s interdisciplinary background in library science, meshed with philosophy, psychology, and the transpersonal approach, uniquely equips her with an embodied wisdom along with human-centered insights.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

Proposals for 30-minute concurrent presentations are now being accepted. Proposals will be evaluated and accepted in the order received. The link to submit proposals is HERE.

We request that session proposals will be practitioner-based and hope that they might include:

• mental health resources;
• healthcare for the homeless;
• social workers in the library;
• addressing poverty, food insecurity, trauma, menstrual health, and other vulnerabilities;
• unhoused pet care;
• art therapy;
• resources for unhoused teens;
• care and hygiene kits;
• mobile showers;
• the emotional toll of working with vulnerable patrons;
• and library leadership support.
  
  

REGISTRATION:

This is a free event, being held live online and also recorded.
REGISTER HERE
to attend live and/or to receive the recording links afterward.
Please also join the Library 2.0 community to be kept updated on this and future events. 

Everyone is invited to participate in our Library 2.0 conference events, which are designed to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among information professionals worldwide. Each three-hour event consists of a keynote panel, 10-15 crowd-sourced thirty-minute presentations, and a closing keynote. 

Participants are encouraged to use #library2024 and #supportivelibrary on their social media posts about the event.

SUPPORT:

The School of Information at San José State University is the founding conference sponsor. Please register as a member of the Library 2.0 network to be kept informed of future events. Recordings from previous years are available under the Archives tab at Library 2.0 and at the Library 2.0 YouTube channel.