Libraries like Red Deer’s changing how they hire, train staff because of homelessness crisis

Between central Alberta’s freezing winter temperatures and the recent closure of a drop-in centre run by a local harm-reduction group, Red Deer Public Library CEO Shelley Ross has seen an uptick in the number of homeless people spending time at the branches.

As a result, she has needed to make some changes in the way she runs the library. 

“When we're hiring … for the library, we make it clear that the first and biggest challenge in a public library is the public,” Ross said.

“We've really changed who we're looking for when we're hiring, and we're making the ability to work with the public a much greater concern of ours because we can teach the materials-handling skills without too much trouble.”

But some who work in the sector say they worry about the sustainability of such an approach, and how much it aligns with the mandates of libraries. 

Libraries taking on challenges that come with members of the public facing homelessness, or issues related to substance abuse and mental health, isn’t a new reality across Canada.

“It's not just urban, it's rural, it’s public libraries across the country seeing the same thing,” said Mary Chevreau, the executive director of the Canadian Urban Libraries Council. 

But she believes library studies students haven’t necessarily been prepared for what was to come after they graduate.

“You need different skills than what one would have acquired through library school,” Chevreau said.

And though she believes some schools are starting to shift to teaching students about “supporting an entire community, not just people who love books,” it means much of that training is falling onto CEOs like Ross.

“We do … first aid training,” Ross said. “We also do a training program called homeless academy.”

Chevreau said she is seeing something similar being implemented countrywide.

“Library leaders have spent a lot of time … trying to train staff in an empathy approach to service models, so that they have better tools in their toolkit to support individuals who may be in crisis.”

But the issue? They’re not paid to do so.