NPL Partnership with Metro Social Services
Nashville Public Library, Tenn.
Innovation Synopsis
Which body organ best represents the library? The brain? No. It’s the HEART. NPL has recently been called a leader in engaging people experiencing homelessness. This is thanks to employee Liz Coleman, whose heart is as big as the Main Library where she works, and to NPL’s commitment to community.
Challenge/Opportunity
Liz – and other reference librarians who get to know our patrons and try their best to help them – can only go so far. That’s often frustrating for both patron and librarian. Last year, Liz forged relationships with local social work organizations that now send representatives to the Main Library weekly. There, they help patrons with housing, health and employment support and referrals. As they wait for one-on-one sessions, patrons use NPL’s public computers and free Wi-Fi to search for jobs and connect with friends and family. During recent severe winter weather in Nashville, NPL’s Main Library remained open as a warming site for people who needed to get out of the cold.
Key Elements of Innovation
The keys to this innovation are employees’ ability to connect one-on-one with patrons and establish trust with them, as well as their ability to draw on networks within our community to forge partnerships and help others. As NPL promotes its services for people seeking housing, health or other social service support, including as we deal with news media outlets on this topic, we place the privacy and dignity of all our patrons first. We also always strive, in our language, descriptions and interactions, to avoid any socioeconomic and other stereotypes about issues surrounding homelessness.
Achieved Outcomes
We are already seing results: a patron and friend of Liz’s recently moved into new housing. This patron also serves on our newly formed Homelessness Advisory Council. Another patron, upon receiving food stamps and a connection to other services, wrote a letter thanking NPL for its “generosity of spirit.” Patrons experiencing suicidal ideation have found safe harbor and compassionate care thanks to an outreach worker from the Mental Health Cooperative. Moving forward, as NPL expands its health and wellness programs under a new “Be Well at NPL” moniker, we will design programs that can enhance the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of ALL our patrons (vs. singling certain groups out as “needy” or “target” populations). This will promote our message and mission of inclusive diversity.