“I’m Not a Social Worker”: An Information Service Model for Working with Patrons in Crisis

Public library patrons rarely reveal their personal crises, but experienced reference librarians quickly recognize the difference between casual and intense questions. Assuming professional responsibility for meeting such information needs, many librarians live with the ambiguity of the librarian/social worker dichotomy. Seeking that delicate balance between the librarian’s customized information service and the social worker’s case management triage, librarians must understand the situated information needs of their in-crisis patrons. For these individuals self-identity becomes a primary factor in any service interaction, including the opportunities and threats that new information generates. This article posits a four-part model of reference service that is centered on self-identity relationships between patrons and their crisis situations. The model incorporates information service guidelines. Intimate partner violence is used as the crisis context with which to explicate the model’s components. Librarians are not social workers, but they are asked to and certainly can provide practical, effective problem-solving information.