the things a brother knows by dana reinhardt

As the response to last year’s article “ Bibliotherapy and Teens” illustrates, guidance for the profession is needed and welcome, and the conversation is ongoing. This got me thinking about how we can help earlier. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers, and mental health is a significant predictor. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 50 percent of teens with mental health issues will drop out of school. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), about 20 percent of adolescents have a diagnosed mental health problem. Those years are, in fact, when many of these issues will present. We created folders on our desktop with the information we knew Jane asked for repeatedly so we could get to it quickly.Īlthough Jane was in her 20s, her mental health struggles began in her teenage years. We changed the desk schedule, making it a rule that no staff member was ever to be alone at the desk, in order to protect the staff’s safety and to prevent any liability issues for the library. We had representatives from various organizations, including the police and a local mental health agency, come in to train the staff. Trying to understand and best accommodate Jane caused us to look at the problem harder, and ultimately to implement a lot of specific policies and procedures. For instance, she would ask for the same information over and over again and would accuse the staff of committing horrific crimes against her. Jane was unique in that she interacted with the staff in very specific and sometimes troubling ways. I have often found that young people take refuge in our sacred walls and that stacks of books can be a fortress of solitude for those who need a place to rest. Such challenges are not new for those of us who work in public libraries. She used to come in every day and was clearly struggling with mental health issues. For years at the public library where I work, we have tried to cope with the behaviors of a young woman, whom I will call Jane.

The things a brother knows by dana reinhardt