WVU Social Work Student Collaborates with Library Staff

We are still improving how we can better serve this community. Our WVU partner–Déja Fleury, a senior undergraduate student from the WVU School of Social Work, has been working with library staff to conduct a needs assessment so staff are better equipped to mediate and help certain populations that that would require social services.

The wonderful fact about the library is that it is one of the last places that is truly public. We don’t ask for money, you can stay all day, and we welcome everyone, no matter their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, or religion.

Our commitment to inclusivity means welcoming people of different needs, and sometimes needs that involve social work, “…a branch librarian might run story hour in the morning, assist with a research project at lunchtime, and in the afternoon administer life-saving medical aid to a patron who overdosed…” (https://www.neh.gov/…/complicated-role-modern-public-librar…)

Our commitment to our community is great but that also means our responsibilities are vast. With Fleury’s help, we hope to better understand the specific skillset our library staff will need to better address these community needs.

Always evaluating and ever improving,
MPLS

Photo courtesy of Carly Suplita