Be Smart About Safety: A Shift Towards a Trauma-Informed Culture

Our library, supporting the education, research, and clinical missions of our health science institution in California's Bay Area, serves a diverse community including the public. It is common for people experiencing homelessness, mental health, or addiction issues to enter our spaces and be reported for some kind of incident. Library staff find themselves in confrontational situations, unsure how to proceed. Calling the police may not be the is not always best response as it could escalate tensions and harm those in crisis. This reflects a cultural shift and is a charge to educate ourselves and seek out other de-escalation and response strategies. To address these challenges, our library successfully secured funding for a training program focused on trauma-informed and anti-racist approaches. This initiative begins with a series of customized training sessions designed to build library-wide understanding of trauma-informed principles and practices. The immediate goal is to enhance our staff's knowledge and skills, forming a solid foundation for revising resources, policies, and processes that promote transparency, communication, and support within our community. The long-term goal includes the development of a culture that recognizes and applies trauma-informed principles internally and externally. Emphasized by library leadership's belief that safety and response support are our collective responsibilities; our program will lead to a deeper awareness of trauma informed principles and concepts in the library environment, calling all of us to take on the responsibility to learn, engage, and apply with care and compassion.