Public Libraries

Public Libraries

A new partnership is helping Indiana librarians meet mental health needs • Indiana Capital Chronicle

However, most libraries are not prepared for what comes through their doors. Library staff report witnessing alcohol use and injection drug use in their buildings, situations far outside the scope of what library training typically covers. Recognizing this gap, The MolinaCares Accord, in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of Indiana, awarded a $50,000 grant to Mental Health America of Indiana to develop mental health training for library staff through the Stanley W. DeKemper Training Institute. The goal is straightforward: give librarians the practical tools to recognize warning signs, de-escalate tense situations, and connect people to appropriate care.

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Boulder’s library district is cutting 20% of its staff. How did it get here?

Less than four years after voters created the library district with expectations of more stable funding, declining property tax revenue and rising costs have forced a dramatic reversal. “This feels like an about-face from where we were when we became a district,” Levine said. “From there to here in almost exactly two years is a pretty rough change for staff.”

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ode to libraries (the book ones)

Not just for working. Use it for thinking, for reconnecting, writing or creating. The library is a sanctuary where your mind slows down, even though the world outside keeps running. Maybe you’ve been postponing to think, to reflect, to spend time by yourself, like I did before I discovered my local library. You’ll find some kind of joy and productivity in there. We don’t have so many pure-good organizations in our world. We should appreciate them while we still have them.

ode to libraries (the book ones)

The Philly Free Library’s Author Events Series: What really happened?

Behind the scenes of the Free Library’s Author Events resignations and rebirthThe walkout and subsequent firing of Author Events staff this year was the result of a decades-long, murky relationship between the library and its foundation – but not the end of the program.

The short answer is the Free Library Foundation’s new executive director, Monique Moore Pryor, arrived in the stacks in 2023 with new ideas for fundraising and plans to expand Author Events beyond Parkway Central, with an emphasis that included neighborhood collaborations and not just cocktail party-worthy events. And as often happens when organizations bring in new management, the old guard — in this case, the former Author Events team led by 24-year Free Library Foundation veteran Andy Kahan — clashed with the new boss.