Public libraries are often the last truly open spaces in civic life—places where people arrive carrying stories shaped by transition, exclusion, hope, and crisis. Sanctuary in the Stacks offers a practical, ethical framework for meeting those moments with dignity rather than control, collaboration rather than compliance. Drawing from solution-focused and narrative practices, this book reimagines everyday library interactions as opportunities for belonging, safety, and agency. Without turning librarians into therapists, it shows how language, listening, and posture can reduce escalation, build trust, and help patrons move forward—often in small but meaningful ways. From the service desk to policy conversations, from crisis response to quiet reference encounters, the book provides concrete tools, sample questions, and reflective practices grounded in real public library work. Therapeutic Librarianship is both a philosophy and a field guide. It is for library professionals who believe public service can be humane without being naïve, boundaried without being cold, and equitable without being abstract. Above all, it affirms the library as a place of sanctuary—where people are not treated as problems to be managed, but as human beings capable of strength, story, and change.