Report: “Indiana Librarians to Get Mental Health Training”

From the Indiana Capital Chronicle:

Hoosiers suffering mental health crises are visiting public libraries for help — transforming the role of librarians who act simultaneously as researchers, archivists and quasi-social workers.

Mental Health America of Indiana is stepping in to train librarians in how to respond to these crises and direct patrons to reliable information on suicide prevention, addiction treatment and mental health disorders.

“We go to libraries to find information, and that information isn’t limited to just what might be in books, but it’s, ‘Tell me how I can find what I need to get my needs met,’” said Stephanie Anderson, chief operating officer of Mental Health America of Indiana. “More and more, those needs circle around mental illness and mental health needs.”

The organization will begin training librarians this year following a $50,000 grant from MolinaCares Accord and Molina Healthcare, in partnership with the Indiana Library Federation.

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A survey by the Indiana Library Federation’s mental health Taskforce found 46% of library workers reported calling emergency services to assist with a patient in crisis.

Seventy percent of library workers said they felt or witnessed a coworker experience secondary trauma in the workplace, while 85% of librarians reported witnessing patrons they believed were experiencing mental illness.

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