One way of responding to the needs of library visitors who have high social needs is to hire Social Workers or Community Support Workers. These staff are based in public libraries and can provide direct services to library visitors, and can also support library staff through training, debriefing, and as a point of referral for services the library staff can not provide. These videos have been recorded by social and community workers in libraries and are a great way of sharing knowledge about library social work, and innovative ways of libraries providing care to the visitors experiencing homelessness and other forms of disadvantage. They have been shared with permission from each presenter.

Megan Mahon is the Social Worker at Merribek Libraries in Northern Melbourne. In this video, Megan explains the work she does at Merribek and her pathway to taking on this role. Megan’s experience is a great example of direct care provided to library visitors by a social worker.

Kriz is the Community Support Worker at the Fremantle Library in Western Australia. Her role is a successful example of a productive partnership formed between a library and an external social service provider as a way of supporting communities.

Denis is the Community Wellbeing Officer based at the Darwin libraries. Denis’s role is an interesting example of community care provision through libraries, but without the inclusion of a social worker.

Karl Quast is the Community Connections Project Worker at the City of Bendigo. In this video, Karl talks about his work with vulnerable communities and about his background and how his position came into effect.