Blogger Liza Purdy

Do What You Do Best: Advice from a Child Welfare Expert

I’ve spent the last few months trying to educate myself on Childhood Trauma, ACES, and how to become a trauma informed library. The task is daunting! The learning curve is steep, the information is abundant and there are so many children in need of care. I was beginning to despair. Then an old friend of mine from high school (shout out to the Shaler Area Titans!), Dr. Lisa Schelbe posted her new book, The Handbook on Child Welfare Practice, on Facebook. Dr. Schelbe is an associate professor in the College of Social Work at Florida State University. Her areas of expertise are child welfare and child maltreatment prevention, among others. I knew I had a resource that could help me focus; she literally wrote the book on the subject! I reached out to Dr. Schelbe, and we had an amazing conversation about what practical steps we can take as children’s…

Administrative and Management Skills

Reporting Suspected Abuse or Neglect: Why We Need Policies in Place

We have all been there: witness to a parent/child interaction that gives you pause. Or having a child in a program share with you something that raises red flags for that child’s well being. As children’s librarians, how do we handle these situations? How can establishing clear policies and procedures about suspected abuse or neglect help us to navigate them?

Blogger Intellectual Freedom Committee

Respect

Respect is a theme that kept popping up in my recent reading. I’m catching up on some middle-school fiction and dealing with demeaning, diminishing and disrespectful behavior from peers and adults is a motif that recurs over and over. Of course, it’s an issue that persists into the adult world. How people communicate on social media and in the comments section in traditional media has gotten lots of attention recently.  Freedom of speech is easier to love if the speech isn’t directed at you.