Centering Wellbeing In Public Spaces: Library Staff and Patrons' Needs

Background: This study takes place in a mid-sized urban city. Like many mid-sized urban cities, poverty rates are high, and many people experience repeated cycles of shelter use, emergency room visits, and incarceration. This study is part of a larger project to develop a community navigation program aimed at reducing emergency service utilization and criminal legal system (CLS) involvement through service linkage and client support at local public libraries. Marginalized populations are increasingly facing barriers to accessing physical and mental health care and meeting their basic needs (e.g., housing, food, and financial stability). Experiencing challenges in these domains is strongly connected to poorer health and increased involvement in the CLS. Public libraries can act as a safe space for marginalized populations to receive support in addressing a host of needs. At the same time, libraries are often under-resourced, and staff are not adequately trained in how to respond to these needs. The research aim of this study was to explore library staff's perceptions of commonly unmet needs of library patrons, views on the library's current efforts and capacity to meet these needs, and preferred strategies to address these needs.

Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed library staff from a single mid-sized urban city library. Respondents were recruited through a staff-wide email and completed an anonymous survey. Of the 84 respondents, 15 completed less than 75% of the survey, yielding an analytical sample of 59. Stata 19 and thematic qualitative analysis were used to analyze the results.

Results: Over 85% of respondents indicated that patrons' largest unmet needs and challenges included housing, hygiene, mental health, substance use, and behavior problems. Staff indicated that the needs caused significant stress on staff. Additionally, staff reported a need to improve the library's capacity to respond to people experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and other needs. Most respondents supported partnering with external community agencies and hiring social services professionals to increase the library's capacity to support community well-being. Staff reported, “Ongoing understaffing and limited resources require staff to compensate for structural shortcomings through emotional labor, de-escalation, and work outside their roles.” Staff reported a desire to receive additional training on how to support and respond to common needs, but emphasized that they are not social workers and that social service professionals are needed to address a range of patrons' needs. Additionally, potential challenges of having security staff effectively navigate responding to common patrons' needs and the difficulty of balancing safety and access for patrons were expressed.

Conclusion and Implications: Public libraries have the potential to increase community well-being through leveraging existing community spaces and supporting the needs of multiple populations. Partnerships between community providers and local libraries can play a critical role in achieving this goal. Additionally, efforts to directly increase the library's capacity to respond to common needs through employing social service professionals may be beneficial. Lastly, creating opportunities for graduate students from social work, public health, medicine, and other helping professions to assist patrons in service navigation and linkage should be explored.