Bridging the Service Gap: Branch Managers Talk about Social Workers in Public Libraries

ABSTRACT Semi-structured interviews with 13 public library branch managers explored their perceptions of the growing trend to situate social workers in public libraries in order to improve the provision of social services information. Both branch managers who had social workers in their libraries, and those who did not, volunteered to be interviewed. Overall, perceptions of the trend were positive, but there are still issues to be resolved about the role of the social worker in the library, how social workers and librarians can best collaborate, and what appropriate supervision and assessment of library social workers require.