This webinar will help all library staff better understand and address the nature and levels of homelessness in and around out libraries. This includes changing legal issues; environmental hazards; employee safety issues; at-risk homeless populations like women and children; empathic communication tools and skills; firm, fair, consistent, assertive, and reasonable treatment; the small population of predatory homeless people; and providing library services to homeless people in need with dignity, empathy, and patience.
Being homeless is a complex social problem that impacts the quality of life in our communities. There are no easy solutions. Much of it is created by shortages of affordable housing, chronic unemployment, mental illness, substance abuse, and changes in our mental health laws that have made the concept of being “gravely disabled” difficult to interpret.
Most individuals who become homeless for the long term have either created or been victimized by a large number of failed relationships, including family members, their children, friends, their employers, landlords, healthcare and social services agencies, and medical providers.
The individuals dealing with homelessness who seem to cause the most problems with their behaviors are often discovered to have serious mental health and substance abuse issues. This means that they can be rude and confrontational, over and over, during frequent encounters with library staff, because they can’t or won’t learn the necessary social cues to comply with our Code of Conduct.
All library staff should be mindful of their safety and security when dealing with certain parts of this challenging, changing, and growing population.
About the Speaker
DR. STEVE ALBRECHT. Since 2000, Dr. Steve Albrecht has trained thousands of library employees in 28+ states, live and online, in service, safety, security, and supervision. His programs are fast, entertaining, and provide tools that can be put to use immediately in the library workspace with all types of patrons. In 2015, the ALA published his book, Library Security: Better Communication, Safer Facilities. He is currently writing the sequel, The Safe Library: Keeping Users, Staff, and Collections Secure, for Rowman & Littlefield. Steve holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board-certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment. He has written 24 books on business, security, and leadership topics. He lives with six dogs, two cats, and three chickens. (Not all in the same room, of course.)
