https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5320-8468
We invite submissions to a special issue of the Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association (JALIA) to be published in December 2023, focusing on delivering social work services in libraries. The issue will bring together researchers and practitioners interested in the interdisciplinary approach and its benefit to both library users and staff. Although the collaboration of the two professions is relatively new to Australia (Garner et al., Citation2021), it is an established practice in other countries such as the United States (Baum et al., Citation2022; Ogden & Williams, Citation2022) and Canada (Schweizer, Citation2018). The work placement of social work students supports libraries (Wahler et al., Citation2022) and in the training of library staff in social work-related skills. Despite the positive impact of the inclusion of social workers in library spaces, challenges exist in the relationship between the professions. Such challenges include a lack of clear boundaries between the responsibilities of the staff, low levels of understanding within each discipline of the work of the other, and a reluctance of some library staff to undertake ‘social work’ after receiving training from a social worker on staff.
Through input from Australian and international library and social work practitioners and researchers, this special issue seeks to stimulate discussion on how social work practice is being delivered in all types of libraries, the benefits and challenges of the two professions working together, and the skills and knowledge required by both disciplines to optimise the relationship between the two.
Below are some suggested topics for submissions:
Existing social work and related practices in all types of libraries
Library staff experiences of working with social workers
Social worker experiences of working in libraries
Social work student placements in libraries
User experiences of social work practice in libraries
Benefits and challenges of collaboration between the professions
Training the professions for a future together
The Journal
JALIA is the official journal of the Australian Library and Information Association and is published by Taylor and Francis. Instructions for authors and a link to the journal’s submission system are available from the JALIA’s web pages at: https://tandfonline.com/toc/ualj21/current. JALIA is a Q2 journal with a Scopus CiteScore of 1.8 and a Clarivate SSCI Impact Factor of 1.055. Accepted papers are published online once they have completed the review and proofing process and then assigned to the correct issue once the complete issue is ready for publication.
JALIA accepts a range of paper types, including peer-reviewed research, research-in-practice papers and editorially reviewed information-in-practice papers. Instructions for authors briefly explaining the different paper types are available: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=ualj21.
Other types of papers are also considered, such as literature reviews. Please get in touch with the editor for further information.
The JALIA editors encourage authors to post an open-access version of the full text of the Accepted Manuscript (AM) version of their paper to an institutional or subject repository and, if they wish, to personal or departmental websites, immediately upon publication. For more information, see here: https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/zero-embargo-green-open-access/
Timeline
Contacts
For queries about the journal, please contact the Editorial Team at [email protected], and for other queries, please contact the Guest Editors:
Jane Garner, [email protected]
Sabine Wardle, [email protected]
Karen Bell, [email protected]
Kasey Garrison, [email protected]
Monique Shephard, [email protected]
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
References
- Baum, B., Gross, M., Latham, D., Crabtree, L., & Randolph, K. (2022). Bridging the service gap: Branch managers talk about social workers in public libraries. Public Library Quarterly, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2113696
- Garner, J., Mitchell, L., Bell, K., Lockwood, A., & Wardle, S. (2021). Social work in Australian public libraries: An interdisciplinary approach to social justice. Public Library Quarterly, 40(6), 504–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2020.1825917
- Ogden, L. P., & Williams, R. D. (2022). Supporting patrons in crisis through a social work-public library collaboration. Journal of Library Administration, 62(5), 656–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2022.2083442
- Schweizer, E. (2018). Social workers within Canadian public libraries: A multicase study [Unpublished master's dissertation], Graduate Studies, University of Calgary, Canada.
- Wahler, E. A., Ressler, J. D., Johnson, S. C., Rortvedt, C., Saecker, T., Helling, J., Williams, M., & Hoover, D. (2022). Public library-based social work field placements: Guidance for public libraries planning to become a social work practicum site. Public Library Quarterly, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2044264