Self-Reported Psychosocial Needs of Public Library Patrons: Comparisons Based on Housing Status.

Public libraries are frequented by patrons experiencing unmet psychosocial needs. At times, the needs exceed staff training, resulting in some libraries turning to social workers. This study is the first to present a comprehensive needs assessment of self-reported patron psychosocial needs from a large U.S. urban library system and examine the specific needs of housed versus unhoused participants. Patrons had many psychosocial needs overall, and unhoused patrons had a greater frequency of basic needs. No relationship was found between housing status and social needs. The results support library programming and services that are inclusive of both housed and unhoused patrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]