Description
The Power of Empathy session will focus on the development of the three-week empathy and de-escalation training that the youth services staff underwent at the Smith Public Library. Focus will be on meaningfully engaging with teen patrons to help avoid heated confrontations and calling law enforcement, as well as working to provide teens with a safe space to be themselves without forcing them to meet behavioral expectations. Special attention will be paid to active listening and empathy mapping.
Presenter(s)
Kelsey Sidwell,Teen Services Librarian, Smith Public Library
Native Ohioan and Texan of 11 years , Kelsey Sidwell (she/her) earned her master’s degree in library science from the University of North Texas in 2018, and has a bachelor’s degree in English from Ohio University. She has been the teen services librarian at the Smith Public Library in Wylie, TX for three years, and has been working in libraries for over a decade. She currently lives in McKinney, TX with her partner and spends her free time doing pottery and reading almost exclusively fantasy books.