Simmons University School of Library and Information Science welcomes Dr. Karen E. Fisher, professor at the University of Washington Information School and an internationally renowned expert on public libraries, trauma and resilience, and everyday life information behavior, including the Arab World. As the 2025 Allen Smith Visiting Scholar, Karen will spend a week at Simmons SLIS in October sharing her research around public libraries, trauma and resilience, and everyday life information behavior. Karen's keynote and panel discussion will take place on October 20th and October 23rd in room C-220 and C-503 of the Management and Academic Building respectively. Both events will conclude with a small reception.
“It’s like a War Zone”: Trauma Experiences of Public Library Staff as Secondary Responders on the Front Line in America’s Communities
As one of the last free public spaces, libraries are seeing greater numbers of patrons seeking help and safety. Austerity in social spending and decline in welfare services have transformed libraries into de facto sites for social service delivery. Patrons’ acute psychosocial problems are leading to increased disruptive incidents, abuse, violence, and other types of traumas such that institutions and staff are challenged in serving as an antidote to social and cultural fragmentation and polarization, intolerance, and rising anti intellectualism.
