Trauma Informed Librarianship

August 7 - September 3, 2023 | Four-week course

This course introduces the idea of trauma informed care to those working in libraries or all types. It reviews the six principles of trauma-informed care and how they work together ultimately creating a trauma responsive workforce and organization. It covers the four R’s of trauma informed care and the three concepts of trauma-informed practice. This course uses readings, reflections, activities, and discussion to guide learners through the concepts, dynamics, and practices we address. This course is part of the Certificate in Disability Access and Inclusion. Learning objectives: Cultivate awareness of trauma and its lifelong effects on the general population with an emphasis on how we, as library workers, can best support the information needs of our community; enhance understanding and create empathy for others as part of our professional practice; appraise behaviors in the community, organization, and in oneself that may be trauma responses and develop mitigation plans for improvement; and integrate knowledge skills and attitudes from this class into your professional practice and workplace.

Learning objectives:
– Cultivate awareness of trauma and its lifelong effects on the general population with an emphasis on how we, as library workers, can best support the information needs of our community.
– Enhance understanding and create empathy for others as part of our professional practice.
– Appraise behaviors in the community, organization, and in oneself that may be trauma responses and develop mitigation plans for improvement.
– Integrate knowledge skills and attitudes from this class into your professional practice and workplace.

Instructor, Rebecca Tolley, is a professor and librarian at East Tennessee State University. She is the Interim Director of Research and Instruction Services and coordinates the Sherrod Library’s research consultation service. She speaks and publishes on topics such as organizational culture, customer service, and cultivating empathy in library workers. She co-edited Generation X Librarian: Essays on Leadership, Technology, Pop Culture, Social Responsibility and Professional Identity (2011) and Mentoring in Librarianship: Essays on Working with Adults and Students to Further the Profession (2011). Her writing has appeared in anthologies, several library journals, and numerous reference works.

CALL Training Partner for this Event: Library Juice Academy