Rethinking Safety in Public Libraries

Join us for the next event in the BUSSW Equity & Inclusion Speaker Series, an interactive virtual session exploring how communities can redefine safety in public libraries. Public libraries are often the one place in a neighborhood that stays open to everyone. They offer more than books: internet access, warmth, a place to sit, and a sense of belonging. They also absorb the effects of housing instability, isolation, mental health needs, substance use, and the climate emergency, often with limited resources. So, what does safety mean when a library serves a community with so many unmet needs? And who gets to decide? In this presentation, Drs. Todić and Johnson share findings from a participatory action research project with library leaders, workers, and patrons at the San Antonio Public Library, whose mission is to change lives through information, imagination and ideas. In this session, attendees will: Hear what library leaders, workers, and patrons said safety means to themLearn how participatory action research can surface safety strategies that fit a community’s needs and a library’s missionExplore how social workers and community members can influence the way neighborhood institutions define, carry out, and sustain safety One CE credit will be available to social workers licensed in the United States. If you wish to receive CE credit, please provide your license number in the registration form. This event is part of the BU School of Social Work Equity & Inclusion Speaker Series presented by the school’s Equity & Inclusion Committee. Please visit bu.edu/ssw/eiss for additional details, past event recordings, and more. The webinar will be conducted using the online Zoom webinar platform. This webinar is open to all members of the BU community including alumni, students, faculty, staff, and the public. Accessibility: Boston University strives to be accessible, inclusive and diverse in our facilities, programming, and academic offerings. Your experience at this event is important to us. If you have a disability or believe you may require accommodation for another reason, please contact the BUSSW Equity & Inclusion Committee at swequity@bu.edu to discuss your needs. Speakers: Dr. Ian Johnson, LCSW-S (he/they) recently joined BUSSW as an assistant professor in the clinical practice department. Ian’s research focuses on creating, improving, and sustaining housing and community-based interventions that promote housing and health justice with older people. This work includes addressing spatial injustices in urban public places to ensure equitable aging, and community-engaged and participatory research with older adults in the crosshairs of the structural violence that drives homelessness, serious illness, incarceration, and co-occurring disorders. Dr. Jelena Todić, MSW (she/her) is a social work scholar whose work centers on an overarching research question: What factors enable liberatory praxis within groups, organizations, and communities to advance health equity and construct health-affirming places for all? Grounded in ecosocial and critical theory, her work explores how restorative and transformative justice approaches can inform non-carceral, place-based research and interventions that support health. She also contributes to broader conversations about the future of the profession, most recently as co-editor of Social Work Beyond the Status Quo, a special open access issue of Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work. Dr. Todić is currently an associate professor of social work at The University of Texas at San Antonio.