Reference, Instruction, and Outreach (RIO)

Whether it be a public, academic, or school library, there has been an increase in working with young adults with mental health conditions or those just facing everyday stressors.  This discussion was to find out what resources or services libraries have implemented to support young adults in these situations - has anyone developed best practices or worked with outside organizations to support their young adult population?

It was discussed that significant numbers of young adults have still not returned to Albany Public Library in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Albany, NY's  Mental Health First Aid:

https://mhanys.org/programs/mhfa/

Albany County Mobile Crisis Unit (for Adults; run out of CDPC): 518-549-6500, 

https://www.albanycounty.com/departments/mental-health

Northern Rivers Mobile Crisis of Albany County (youth): 518-292-5499

https://www.northernrivers.org/mobile-crisis

Skidmore College has a campus counseling center and campus safety officers trained in dealing with mental health crisis issues. They also have posters in the library restrooms to help anyone needing information on sensitive topics, without their having to feel embarrassed asking about them. The PDF of these posters can be found at:

https://libguides.skidmore.edu/ld.php?content_id=48515798

At Schenectady County Community College Library, some of their passive whiteboard activities have indicated that some of their students are experiencing stress/anxiety post-pandemic.

Also discussed was the issue of whether to intercede or not if a student appeared to be in crisis.