Back in Circulation 2025

Keynote Speaker: Beth Wahler, PhD, MSW

Beth Wahler, PhD, MSW is founder and principal consultant at Beth Wahler Consulting, LLC and affiliated research faculty and previous director of the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. Dr. Wahler is a social work consultant, researcher, and experienced administrator whose primary focus is trauma-informed librarianship, library strategies for addressing patrons’ or community psychosocial needs, supporting library staff with serving high-needs patrons and reducing work-related stress/trauma, and various kinds of collaborations, services, and programs to meet patron, staff, or community needs. She has worked with multiple types of libraries internationally and in all sizes of communities – urban, suburban, and rural – as well as large library systems and state library associations to provide personalized training opportunities, conduct needs assessments, and develop individualized plans to help meet the needs of their patron populations and staff. Her book, Creating a Person-Centered Library: Best Practices for Supporting High-Needs Patrons, focuses on strategies for supporting patrons with psychosocial needs while simultaneously supporting library staff. She also co-hosts the podcast, Surviving the Stacks, aimed at providing support to library staff across the globe.