WLA Bibliotherapy in Libraries Summit Schedule
Schedule times are subject to change
Individual Registration | Organizational Registration | State-Wide Access Registration
8:45–9:00 AM | Welcome
WLA's Board President Sarah Logan will welcome you to the Summit and share tips for making the most of your participation.
Sarah Logan (she/her), Teacher-Librarian, Camas School District, WLA 2024 Board President
9:00–10:00 AM | Keynote with John Schu: The Gift of Story
When we share our hearts through story, we inspire others to think more deeply about their own hearts and how stories connect us all. John Schu invites readers to consider literacy beyond its academic benefits, highlighting the ways story speaks to our hearts and brings us together. Presented through a study of five affective elements of story --- healer, inspiration, clarifier, compassion, and connector --- John will discuss how the universal truths found in stories can change us, inspire us, connect us to others, answer our deepest questions, and help us heal. Join the live session for a chance to win one of three John Schu books that will be available as a giveaway!
John Schu has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people who connect them. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious and the author of This Is a School (Candlewick, 2022) illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison, This Is a Story (Candlewick, 2023) illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist
Lauren Castillo, Louder Than Hunger (Candlewick, 2024), Louder Than Hunger (Candlewick, 2024) and The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life (Stenhouse, 2022). John Schu lives in Naperville, IL.
10:30–11:30 AM | Intro to Bibliotherapy: Healing Through Stories
Join Emely Rumble, LCSW, a therapist specializing in bibliotherapy, for an insightful introduction to the healing power of stories. In this session, Emely will explore how libraries and library workers serve as frontline mental health interventionists by offering not just books but also opportunities for self-reflection, growth, and connection. Learn how literature can be used as a therapeutic tool to foster individual and communal healing, and why safeguarding access to diverse stories is essential in promoting mental health and social justice.
This session will also address the critical role library workers play in combating the growing threat of book bans, ensuring that communities have access to stories that validate marginalized experiences and inspire transformation. Through her personal journey and professional expertise, Emely will inspire attendees to champion the healing power of words.
Emely Rumble, LCSW, is a distinguished licensed clinical social worker, school social worker, and seasoned bibliotherapist and psychotherapist with over 14 years of professional experience. Committed to making mental health services more accessible, Emely specializes in the transformative practice of bibliotherapy.
Passionate about advocating for the integration of creative arts in psychotherapy, mental well-being, and self-improvement, Emely champions the social model of disability and embraces a neurodiversity-affirming therapeutic approach. A distinguished member of The National Association of Poetry Therapy, Emely's work has been featured in respected publications such as Parents Magazine, ‘School Library Journal’, Bold Journey Magazine, BronxNet News, Success Magazine, and The Bronx Is Reading. Her debut book 'Bibliotherapy in The Bronx' releases on April 29 2025 with Row House Publishing.
Emely shares her expertise beyond traditional avenues through @Literapy_NYC, her dedicated platform on Instagram, TikTok, and Podia, where she provides valuable educational content.
Having earned her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College and completed her social work degree at Smith College School for Social Work, Emely resides in the Bronx with her husband, two children, and her psychiatric service dog, Montana. She embodies a holistic and compassionate approach to mental health and well-being.
11:45 AM–12:30 PM | Lunch & Book Talk Club (BYOBB: Bring Your Own Bibliotherapy Book)
Sarah Logan (she/her), Teacher-Librarian, Camas School District, WLA 2024 Board President
1:00–2:00 PM | I’m a Library Worker, Not a Therapist!: Know Your Scope and Create Boundaries
Librarianship is a field where so many library workers care deeply about their work and also end up giving more than they have. In this workshop, you will discern between empathy and emotional caretaking in the context of your capacity and scope of practice. From there, you'll decide which types of boundaries might be more relevant for you and create at least one boundary that supports you in your library work.
 Nisha Mody (she/her) is a certified Life Coach for Liberatory Dreamers, Facilitator, and Writer. Nisha values growth, relationship, and liberation, and she helps people who overgive to be generous with themselves while staying aligned with their values. Aside from offering one-on-one and group coaching, she talks about trauma-informed library work, boundaries, and values and more in workshops and her new self-paced course called Trauma-Informed & Relational Care for Libraries. Nisha always includes a systemic perspective, incorporating systemic trauma, inequity, and oppression, into all of her work. You can find Nisha on Instagram @healinghypegirl, on her website at www.nishaland.com, and you can also get all the tools she uses with her one-on-one clients with her new, free, robust resource 7 Tools to Cultivate Revolutionary Relationships in a Dystopian World.
2:30–3:30 PM | Therapeutically Applied Roleplaying Games: Using Games to Foster Growth and Connection | Hayden Jones, LMHCA; Dr. Jared Kilmer, PhD; Ellie Lovde, LMHCA
Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder have seen a boom in popularity with shows like Critical Role and Dimension 20, with fans of all types drawn in by the idea of collaborative, creative play. Aside from their mass appeal, these games can also be harnessed in therapeutic and educational spaces to foster growth and positive change even amongst hard to reach populations. This panel will join experts in Therapeutically Applied TTRPGS as they answer questions and discuss best practices in how these games can be employed as tools of personal development and used to foster spaces for self-exploration and growth with diverse populations.
 Hayden Jones, LMHCA is a Licensed Mental Health Counseling Associate in Seattle, Washington. He has worked extensively in educational and mental health settings with all ages, with a focus on utilizing geek and gaming culture to help others to learn skills to promote self-esteem and positive communication within their community. Hayden’s work includes publications and presentations on subjects ranging from integrating specific client and student interests into the counseling and classroom space, to the use of Table Top Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs) to foster therapeutic growth and social skill development. Hayden is passionate about the use of humor, strength-based approaches, and integration of common interests in promoting inclusion and belonging both within counseling and education spaces and beyond.
 Dr. Jared Kilmer, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist dedicated to the research and application of the cognitive and emotional benefits of games and developing effective therapeutically applied gaming interventions among multiple populations. He serves as the Clinic Director at Save Point Behavioral Health, focused on providing neurodivergent, geek, and gamer affirming counseling and assessment services to his clients. He has developed methodologies utilizing therapeutically applied role-playing games (TA-RPGs) to promote psychological flexibility, resilience, and well being in military veterans recovering from mental illness, as well as to promote confidence, teamwork, and interpersonal effectiveness in neurodivergent children and adolescents. Dr. Kilmer co-authored the book Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games: The Game to Grow Method and supports the use of digital games (e.g., Destiny, Minecraft, and Stardew Valley) in his clinical practice.
Ellie Lovde, LMHCA, is a licensed mental health counselor passionate about empowerment through collaborative learning and social justice advocacy. They are employed at Save Point Behavioral Health and are currently serving as a volunteer board member in the position of graduate student representative for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association (WMHCA). Ellie integrates identity-centered and trauma-informed approaches into their work with emerging adults and marginalized populations through storytelling and therapeutic tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). Their clinical focus includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), narrative therapy, and existential approaches, emphasizing self-compassion, resilience, and liberation. Ellie has been honored to speak on panels about co-launching TTRPG groups for transgender youth, where they shared expertise in utilizing role-play and collaborative world-building to facilitate growth of socio-emotional skills, self-acceptance, and community building. Their professional background includes experience in a variety of healthcare roles within emergency medicine and response.
4:00–5:00 PM | Narratives of Belonging in Libraries: Research and Practices to Support Social Connection
In an era where social isolation is increasingly recognized as a community challenge rather than an individual one, libraries have a vital role to play in fostering social connection to enhance wellbeing. Join us to explore how libraries can more intentionally design programs and services to nurture relationships, promote belonging, and support community health.
 Jennifer Lee Peterson joined OCLC's WebJunction team in 2005. In her role as Community Manager, she manages WebJunction’s webinar programming, supports grant projects, and works on the WebJunction.org website and our social media presence. Jennifer loves being a part of a great big group of collaborators and believes that the success of a community depends on its capacity to learn together. Before joining WebJunction, Jennifer worked for over a decade at branches throughout the Timberland Regional Library and Seattle Public Library systems and interned at the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation while completing the MLIS program at the University of Washington Information School. She has served on the board for the Association for Rural & Small Libraries and was a 2011 Library Journal Mover and Shaker.
Margo Gustina is a researcher. An outspoken believer in collective power to move institutions toward more meaningful policy and practice, they work with organizations: facilitating planning, funding, and governance conversations and processes. In addition, Margo is the Principal Investigator on the national study of public library valuation, Libraries In Community Systems project (lincs.nnyln.org).
5:00–5:15 PM | Closing Remarks
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If you have any questions, contact the WLA Office at [email protected] or (206) 823-1138
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