Librarianship and Social Work: Complimentary, Not Competing, Professions for Society’s Benefit

Across North America, nearly 350 public libraries employ social workers or have social service office hours. With public libraries’ mandate of welcoming all members of the public through their doors, having social workers as part of library staff does appear, on its face, to make sense. But does it? This study explores public library leaders’ perceptions through the southeastern United States about the opportunities social workers in their libraries bring to their communities using a self-administered survey. Most respondents believed that this was an excellent idea and could prove helpful to their patrons but with caveats.