Portrait image of Beth Wahler, speaker for ALIA National 2026

BETH WAHLER, PhD

Keynote Speaker, ALIA National 2026

Keynote Title:

Defusing and Preventing Behavioural Escalation in Libraries and Beyond: The Role of Three Core Human Needs

Session time/s:
TBC

About Beth Wahler, PhD:

Beth Wahler, PhD, MSW is founder and principal consultant at Beth Wahler Consulting, LLC. She is an internationally-recognized consultant, trainer, and researcher whose primary focus is trauma-informed librarianship, library strategies for addressing visitors’ social service-related needs, supporting library staff with serving high-needs visitors and reducing work-related stress/trauma, and various kinds of collaborations, services, and programs to meet visitor, staff, or community needs. She has worked with a wide variety of libraries internationally- urban, suburban, and rural- as well as large library systems and state library associations to provide personalised training opportunities, conduct needs assessments, evaluate library programs/services, and/or develop individualised plans to help meet the needs of their visitor populations and staff. She has also published and presented internationally on library visitor and staff needs, trauma-informed librarianship, and library/social work collaborations. Her book, “Creating a Person-Centered Library: Best Practices for Supporting High-Needs Patrons,” focuses on strategies for supporting visitors with complex needs while simultaneously supporting library staff. She also co-hosts the podcast, Surviving the Stacks, aimed at providing support to library staff across the globe.