A $150,000 grant is allowing the Athens Regional Library to form a unique partnership with UGA’s School of Social Work. The Community Catalyst Grant will allow the facility to become a trauma-informed library. The grant was provided by Institute of Museum and Library Services’ National Leadership Program.
The funds will allow social work student interns to work at the library to identify the needs of at-risk community members. Dean Anna Scheyett says she believes this is a first for the nation.
“One of the things that’s really exciting about this is that while there have been social workers in libraries for a long time—I mean, that’s like a 10 or 15 year old idea—the idea of partnering with a library as a social work school to create this trauma-informed environment in which the services are provided, I can’t find that anywhere else nationally. I think we might be the first ones,” Scheyett says.
She says being trauma-informed means looking at library patrons and others in a new light.
The student internships are set to begin in October.
