Libraries Have Become a Catchall for Social Services -- Should They Be?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Libraries have long been a beloved hub for education and community, but as our state and nation battle crises of growing income inequality, homelessness and mental health, the work of public librarians these days can be just as much about social work as it is about books and information. In the new book “Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library,” author and former librarian Amanda Oliver considers how public libraries have evolved and why they’ve been tasked to fill so many roles in our society. Oliver, who developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder while working as a public librarian in Washington, D.C., asks whether public librarians can – and should – continue to fill the gap in our social safety net. As the country celebrates National Library Week, Oliver and California librarians join us to unpack these questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
0:05.3	You can fly back in time and visit SFO's Aviation Museum and Library to learn about the history of commercial aviation.
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0:58.1	From KQED.
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1:14.8	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim. Coming up on forum, libraries have long been a beloved hub of education and community.
1:20.0	But as our state and nation battle crises of income inequality, homelessness, and mental health
1:24.4	issues, the work of public librarians these days can be just
1:28.0	as much about social work as it is about books and information.
1:32.2	Author and former librarian Amanda Oliver in the book Overdue considers how public libraries
1:37.6	have evolved and asks why they've been tasked to fill so many roles in our society.
1:43.3	As the country celebrates National Library
1:45.0	Week, we talk with Oliver and librarians in California to unpack that question. Join us.
1:51.0	This is Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
2:03.6	Amanda Oliver developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder while working as a librarian in Washington, D.C., leading her to ask whether public librarians can and should continue to fill the gaps in our social safety net.
	...

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