FYI—Sharing this opportunity for those who may be interested.

Michelle Bradley

Library Development Manager

Library of Michigan

517-335-1507

Subject: Call for Participation: Libraries Advancing Community Learning to Reduce Substance Use

Do you feel that your library could do more to help people in recovery from substance abuse? Do you believe in the healing power of reading? Is your library an innovator in these domains? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we want to hear from you! 

We invite applications from public library workers and administrators who are interested in participating in an IMLS-funded national forum (Grant #RE-256563-OLS-24), Libraries Advancing Community Learning to Reduce Substance Use (LACL), which will be held both online and on-site at the Kansas City Public Library on May 15 and 16, 2025. Experts in the library and substance abuse recovery fields will engage participants to envision and create support for people experiencing alcohol use disorder (AUD) and/or substance use disorder (SUD) through reading, bibliotherapy, and peer-to-peer learning circles. 

Guided breakout discussion sessions will provide opportunities for participants to share knowledge and develop resources to:

• facilitate social connections
• develop working relationships and partnerships with professionals in the recovery field
• recommend therapeutic uses of literature and provide support for reading groups focusing on AUD and/or SUD
• support library staff suffering from AUD and/or SUD and secondary trauma
• apply effective marketing and outreach tactics that reach people who will benefit from these efforts.

The forum will provide the basis for an openly available online toolkit that can be used in public libraries.

Selected participants will be able to participate on-site. All on-site participants will expected to actively participate in discussions and contribute to the toolkit. They will be provided with travel, two nights’ accommodation at a hotel near the event space, and a stipend for meals not included at the conference. Any library staff member who wishes to learn and contribute to the event can attend the online sessions for free and will be invited to provide feedback on the preliminary materials.

Apply:

On-site event, Kansas City

Online-only event

Applications for the on-site event are due October 31, 2024. 

The project team will review applications and select 50 participants for the on-site forum. We aim to include adult-services public library workers who represent a diverse cross-section of the U.S. (i.e., urban, rural, diverse socio-cultural demographic characteristics, etc.) and from different sizes of libraries. Priority will be given to applicants who have experience with substance abuse recovery programs, facilitating reading and learning groups, outreach, social services, and/or those who represent underserved communities. 

Notifications of acceptance will be issued by November 30, and selected participants must confirm their participation by December 15. 

Jenny S. Bossaller

Associate Professor

School of Information Science & Learning Technologies

University of Missouri