2019 Joint Conference ILA/NLA/NSLA

Libraries are one of the few places that people from diverse economic backgrounds interact. A shared space where people from different socioeconomic classes coexist together can sometimes lead to tense interactions where differences in communication style, worldview, ideas about the role of adults and children, and other foundational issues that are deeply held, are on display. By building relationships with individuals and using empathy driven de-escalation techniques, often conflicts can be avoided all together. Using scholarly evidence and our own experiences based on daily interactions with a diverse community, we will discuss effective pre-conflict techniques as well as verbal and non-verbal tools to help librarians have successful interactions with their patrons.