Kavan Stafford, works as a Senior Librarian at NHS Lanarkshire, using the skills he developed in public libraries to help the users of the NHS access the best possible treatment.

Support your public library colleagues and fill out the anonymous survey that will provide the basis for a first-of-its-kind analysis of homeless users in libraries across the UK.

Public librarians are increasingly being asked to undertake activities that they have not been trained for, and the feeling is that this kind of workload is increasing.

This can be problematic especially when providing support and services to homeless users, where there is either a lack of training, or appropriate training is difficult to find.

This survey will give public librarians a chance to express their frustrations and share their experiences to support creating a robust basis for developing new and enhancing existing training.

Completing the survey is also an opportunity for public librarians to reflect on their work and covers questions that you might not have considered before, sparking new ideas for you and your library.

Fill in the anonymous survey today and share it with colleagues

Background

Kavan Stafford, a librarian of eight years’ experience, is running the survey that builds on his Masters’ dissertation, which examined staff attitudes towards homeless users.

During the pandemic, while Kavan was working with homeless library users at Mitchell Library in Glasgow, he watched the library transform from a place visitors could access freely to somewhere with strict entry requirements, including the need for a stated reason to enter.

Kavan said: “Homeless users, who came in for warmth, a place to read or even to sit down and relax, were digitally excluded from the booking system and could not provide stated reasons for entry, so could not access the service.

“This led to misunderstandings between homeless library users and staff as staff, who were overworked and expected to do more and more, found themselves unable to help homeless library users as they felt they should.”

A first-of-its-kind book

The results of the survey will form part of a new book entitled ‘Public Libraries and Homelessness’ from Facet Publishing.

‘Public Libraries and Homelessness’ will provide an overview of the current provision in UK public libraries for homeless users, and analyse international research and case studies to support policy and training development.

Find out more about Facet Publishing

Survey closes on 31 March, fill in the anonymous survey today.

Email Kavan to find out more or ask any further questions.