Beth Wahler
Beth Wahler Consulting LLC
Bio:
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 public libraries- 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. She has also published and presented internationally on library patron and staff needs, trauma-informed librarianship, and library/social work collaborations. Her recently published 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 a podcast, Surviving the Stacks, aimed at providing support to library staff across the globe. Prior to her current roles, Dr. Wahler has 14 years of experience as a social work practitioner and administrator in the state of Kentucky, working with organizations serving individuals who had barriers to safety, economic mobility, and stability including mental health problems, substance use problems, intimate partner violence and other experiences of trauma, disabilities, and chronic health problems. For many of these years, she worked with a statewide university and state government collaboration to support families at risk of or with substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect.
