The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness
The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness
The rock star of library homelessness issues! This book is awesome, but his TRAININGS are really dynamic and on-topic. This is a MUST READ for every public library employee. Please ask your leadership team to purchase copies for the whole organization to read and work on together!
“Packs a wealth of useful information … The approaches detailed here will be applicable to all sorts of patron-staff interactions in libraries of all sizes. A comprehensive handbook that’s sure to grow even more relevant as time goes on.”
— Booklist
“He emphasizes ways in which librarians can convey respect and a nonjudgmental attitude towards homeless persons (including five pages devoted to handshakes) and makes important points about the necessity for ‘legitimate’ library rules that are predictable and fair.”
— VOYA
“The levity and clarity of Dowd’s writing provides a functional wisdom.”
— Real Change
“This thoughtful and practical guide will help librarians better understand the homeless population … Readers will find Dowd’s advice easy to understand and apply.”
— CHOICE
“Taken as a customer service kit on how to deal with every problem patron, the book is invaluable. Empathy-driven enforcement is beneficial to our interactions with teens, stressed moms, and entitled customers in addition to those experiencing homelessness.”
— The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion
“After experiencing a critical incident with a transient individual at our library, I knew my staff and I needed more training on how to react mindfully, so that we were respecting the individual while keeping ourselves and our other patrons safe. I signed up for Ryan Dowd’s webinar on working with individuals experiencing homelessness in libraries and read his book on the same topic. His empathy-driven approached resonated with my existing value system and gave me practical tools I could start using immediately. The poignant vignettes peppered throughout the text gave me confidence that these tried-and-true methods were provided by someone working in the trenches on a daily basis, not sprouting lofty ideas from a comfortable office that would fall apart under the pressure of real-world library work. I haven’t looked back.”
— Jenn Carson, Library Director, L.P. Fisher Public Library, Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada
Filled with to-the-point guidance that will help frontline public library staff and managers understand and serve this population better, this resource:
Readers say
After reading this book, I am prepared to serve the homelessness community in my library. This book has awesome information about those experiencing homelessness. I learned a lot. I purchased a new copy; however the pages were loosely bind to the book. I use the book for literature review paper in school.
Want to be a more compassionate person? This book is for you! By far the best book I read in 2019.
I work in a public library, but I am certain this would be immensely insightful for anyone who wants to be more empathetic and use positive psychology to improve their interactions with others, particularly people who you might struggle to have a good relationship with. If you care about improving your dynamic with any other human being, this book is for you.
It's on my holiday wish-list even though there are free copies at work for us to take home. I want to re-read it, underline the best parts, and take notes in the margins.
There were a few things you may disagree with, but the overall messaging is still powerful and pertinent.
Not just for librarians, not just applicable to homelessness. Ryan Dowd’s tools in this book apply to FAR more than librarians, or individuals experiencing homelessness. Any individual or organization can learn more about how to do more for others and for their own interests by using empathy-based approaches.
Incredible! This book really opened my eyes to a world that I knew nothing about!
I am a follower of his seminars and Ryan and his wife are great together! They compliment each other so well and you can feel how well they speak to and help each other!
Ryan, thank you for making me see the world, the way that it really is!
