Social Work and Social Workers in the Public Library

Team Members

• Brigitte Blanton, Director, Greensboro Public Library
• Melissa Floyd-Pickard, Professor, Chair, Social Work, UNCG
• Alicia Kaplan, Co-Field Director, Joint Master of Social Work Program, UNCG
• Noah Lenstra, Assistant Professor, Library Information Sciences, UNCG
• Maruka Rivers, Lecturer, Co-Field Director, Joint Master of Social Work Program, NC A&T University
• Lorrie Russel, Assistant Director, High Point Public Library
• Mary Sizemore, Director, High Point Public Library
• Michelle M. Vance, Assistant Professor, Joint Master of Social Work Program, NC A&T University

Abstract

This Community-Engaged Pathways and Partnerships (P2) project brings together representatives from across Guilford County to deepen integration among public librarianship, social work, the Joint Master of Social Work (JMSW), and the Master’s of Library and Information Science (MLIS) programs. This project seeks to deepen and extend this existing cross-institutional partnership such that:

1. Vital social services remain perpetually accessible within local public libraries; and
2. The experiences of the JMSW candidates placed in public libraries directly informs cross-institutional collaboration and the curricula of the JMSW and MLIS programs