When Expectations Cross the line
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, librarians across college campus advocated for closing the libraries, recognizing that libraries have been growing online presences for more than two decades. (Flaherty, 2020) Despite the fact that the risk to library employees was great, due to how frequently they interact with patrons, how long patrons tend to remain in one space, and the necessity of cleaning/handling used services and materials, many libraries remained open. In some situations, even when the physical library building was closed to the public, individuals were expected to show up for their position, with minimal safety measures in place, to provide access to library materials (Moynihan, 2020).
But this was already underway before the pandemic. In public libraries, library employees often serve as social workers, daycare providers, and even paramedics. Librarians training in and administering NARCAN/Naloxone during the opiod epidemic exemplify the librarian as hero, her place in the savior /caretaker role and how she can't turn away from saving lives if she is part of the community, if her job is to care for the community.
But at two doses a library we're staring the constructed scarcity in the face again - the librarian wouldn't be the one with the keys to the cabinet with two doses of naloxone if there were enough for the recovery community and the recovering to have their own.
She wouldn't have to be the savior if the drugs weren't locked up. Do we keep the fire extinguishers behind the reference desk? Librarians are thrust into the role of savior in the opiod overdose wars because of constructed scarcity . A good Samaritan ethos can't manifest itself in an under-resourced community that is itself battling an overwhelming constructed scarcity the one that challenges availability of evidence based recovery and treatment options for the addicted. Scarcity is our fallback position but there's a domino effect everytime we go there in the face of need
RELATED RESOURCES
- ALA. 2018. “Company to Supply Free Narcan to Libraries.” American Libraries Magazine. 2018. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/narcan-company-supply-free-narcan-to-libraries/. 2 does a library ?! WTF.
- Annie Correal. 2018. “Once It Was Overdue Books. Now Librarians Fight Overdoses. - The New York Times,” February 28, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/nyregion/librarians-opioid-heroin-overdoses.html.
- Barton, Mary Ann. 2017. “Beyond Books: Librarians on Front Line of Opioid Crisis.” NACo. July 19, 2017. https://www.naco.org/articles/beyond-books-librarians-front-line-opioid-crisis.
- “Call to Action: Public Libraries and the Opioid Crisis.” 2020. WebJunction. December 4, 2020. https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/call-to-action-public-libraries-and-the-opioid-crisis.html.
- CNN, Darran Simon, CNN Photographs by Michelle Gustafson for. 2017. “The Opioid Epidemic Is so Bad That Librarians Are Learning How to Treat Overdoses.” CNN. June 24, 2017. https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/23/health/opioid-overdose-library-narcan/index.html.
- Rosales, Romeo. 2018. “The Opioid Crisis and Administering Narcan in Libraries.” Public Libraries Online, September 17, 2018. http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2018/09/the-opioid-crisis-and-administering-narcan-in-libraries/.
- TEDMED Foundation. 2017. The Critical Role Librarians Play in the Opioid Crisis. TEDMED. https://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=691192.
- TEDMED Staff. 2018. “Q&A with Chera Kowalski of the Free Library of Philadelphia.” TEDMED Blog (blog). June 5, 2018. https://blog.tedmed.com/qa-with-chera-kowalski-of-the-free-library-of-philadelphia/.
