To read this content please select one of the options below:

(excl. tax) 30 days to view and download

The Journey Toward Implementing Trauma-Informed Practices to Support Patrons and Staff in an Academic Library Setting

Dana V. Lema, Bethany Bones, Alexandra Franz-Harder, Robyn Huff-Eibl, Nisha Mody, Gerald J. Perry, Megan Senseney

Trauma-Informed Leadership in Libraries

ISBN: 978-1-83797-882-3, eISBN: 978-1-83797-881-6

Publication date: 10 February 2025

Abstract

The University of Arizona Libraries (UAL) has engaged in learning and applying trauma-informed concepts since 2020. These efforts followed conversations about how to compassionately uphold the libraries' Code of Conduct (CoC). Conversations occurred against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a national racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and a series of local incidents including border control, racial aggression, insecure access to basic needs and mental health services, and the recent on-campus homicide of a faculty member. In response, the library's Diversity, Social Justice, and Equity Council (DSJEC) began working to identify resources for trauma-informed services and leadership. UAL has interrogated the ways in which the CoC serves both as a response to expressions of trauma and a potential perpetuating source of trauma for patrons and staff. Moreover, many staff members have experienced trauma that occurred either within or outside the workplace that affects their work experience. UAL contracted with relational healing and life coach Nisha Mody to deliver a series of webinars introducing trauma-informed concepts and connecting them to academic library work.

A result of trauma-informed training was a deeper knowledge of trauma-informed principles and their connection to systemic inequity and power. For this reason, UAL and other academic libraries may encounter challenges when applying trauma-informed practices within the administrative and cultural context of higher education.

Keywords

Citation

Lema, D.V., Bones, B., Franz-Harder, A., Huff-Eibl, R., Mody, N., Perry, G.J. and Senseney, M. (2025), "The Journey Toward Implementing Trauma-Informed Practices to Support Patrons and Staff in an Academic Library Setting", Crum, J. and Ketchum, D.H. (Ed.) Trauma-Informed Leadership in Libraries (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Vol. 44), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 131-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0732-067120250000044009

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2025 Dana V. Lema, Bethany Bones, Alexandra Franz-Harder, Robyn Huff-Eibl, Nisha Mody, Gerald J. Perry and Megan Senseney. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited