Main Library, Salt Lake City Public Library (Image via SLPL)
Two years ago, SLCPL hired a licensed social worker for the first time in an effort to deepen the library’s services for the homeless. The hire was recommended by a staff working group to address concerns that staff weren’t trained to provide the help some patrons clearly needed.
When Nicole Campolucci took the new job of head of social services, her first task was to assess how the services in place matched community needs. “The three areas that I identified as the most pressing needs within our library system were homelessness, substance abuse and mental illness,” Campolucci says.
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The main library building has a “Resource Corner” with desks for partner organizations like Mental Health America of Utah, Odyssey House (harm reduction services), The Road Home (supportive services for veterans) and the Department of Workforce Services to holdoffice hours. Printed information about shelters and places for food, clothing, substance abuse help and medical care can be found in the Resource Corner. “We don’t need to send them out to another building,” says Daniel Neville-Rehbehn, SLCPL’s director of customer experience. “That’s an important feature.”
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
