Category Archives: Training

Advocacy, Training

Training Tips: ALA’s Hateful Conduct in Libraries: Supporting Library Workers and Patrons

We talk about this idea often, because it’s such an important part of working in any library/archive or other job doing customer service all day: It’s HARD!

People have this rosy, totally unrealistic, idea of what library work means. They assume people who visit us are lovely and charming, asking library staff polite and interesting questions all day.

And sure – that happens.

Sometimes.

At least as often though, patrons are challenging in all sorts of ways we do not always expect. And sometimes that goes beyond mere bad customer behavior, and becomes scary.

That can take a lot of different forms, but today we are looking at the American Library Association’s (ALA) new Hateful Conduct in Libraries policy. There is a lot of supporting documentation to go with this, and we encourage you to read through it to help implement this in your own libraries. (CMLE is here to help members to work on policies in your library!)

Here is some of the information they provide as a guide.

“What prompted the need for this document?

After the 2016 elections, there was a spike in reported hate crimes in American libraries. Consequently, questions about hate speech, the First Amendment, and patron behavior in the library are escalating. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services have prepared this resource to provide additional guidance for librarians struggling with issues of hate and intolerance.

This resource focuses on public libraries, academia, and schools. Although private institutions are not held to the legal requirements of the First Amendment, the principles of free expression and respect are encouraged. Unique aspects to consider for each setting are outlined in the “Special Considerations” section of the document.

“A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”
— Article V, Library Bill of Rights

This statement from the Library Bill of Rights establishes equal access for all as a fundamental user right. However, it is important to recognize that historical inequities, microaggressions, power, and privilege (white privilege, gender privilege, able-bodied privilege, etc.) impact library spaces every day. This may play out as negative bias in policies, access, or direct interactions with people of color, immigrants, refugees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities. Creating an inclusive space requires ongoing education, discussions, and development for library staff and the communities served.

This guide can be used by libraries as they initiate conversations among staff members and within their communities. The guide is divided into three sections:

  1. Proactive Preparation (What strategic steps can I take to prepare in the event hateful conduct situations occur within the library?)
  2. Responding to an Incident (What do I do if hateful conduct is directed at me, a colleague, or a patron, and how do I follow-up?)
  3. Meeting Community Needs (How do I balance access to all viewpoints while also identifying and supporting historically marginalized perspectives?)

Each section begins with a list of questions received by the ALA related to hateful conduct and free speech, followed by statements to consider before, during, and after a hateful incident. Each section ends with suggestions on how to support library staff and patrons. This document should not be construed as legal advice but may provide insight as to when a library may need to seek legal advice or consult law enforcement. If legal advice or expert assistance is required, you or your library should seek the services of a competent legal professional. ”

 

The document goes on to talk about different areas you can look through as you work through these ideas:

Libraries are always supportive of free and open expression of ideas, and sharing of information – even when we personally disagree with it. But hate has no place in libraries. Work through some policy creation for your own library, to help ensure you are best able to provide great service to your community!

Training

Book Bites: Stiff and Gulp (Live!)

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week!

Today’s book is Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. We also discussed Gulp: Travels Around the Gut, also by Mary Roach. This was recorded live at St Cloud public library.

 

Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.
 
We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Check out this episode!

Resources, Training

Webinar: DPLA and Ebooks: Expanding Access through Collaboration

 

We are passing this along from DPLA, so you can check out this webinar.

Note that MN’s own Minitex Director is one of the speakers – so you know it will be good!!

DPLA and Ebooks: Expanding Access through Collaboration

Date: February 6, 2019 at 2:00PM Eastern Time

Presenters:
Micah May, DPLA Ebooks Consultant
Michele Kimpton, Director of Business Development and Senior Strategist
Luke Swarthout, Director of Digital Policy, The New York Public Library
Michael Blackwell, Director of St. Mary’s County Library (MD)
Valerie Horton, Director of Minitex

Join DPLA staff and partners for a detailed overview of DPLA’s ebooks initiatives and how this work advances the field and supports libraries. The session will introduce the DPLA Exchange, Open Bookshelf, and SimplyE and the roles of key partners including The New York Public Library and LYRASIS. DPLA Exchange pilot partners and SimplyE implementation partners will provide insight from the field about their experiences and goals in adopting these tools and services.

Priority registration is currently open to DPLA Member Hubs. Join our mailing list or follow @dpla on Twitter for registration updates. 

Training

Book Bites: Sabriel (Live!)

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week!

Today’s book is Sabriel, by Garth Nix. This episode is recorded Live! on-site at the Great River Public Library in St Cloud.

 

Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.
 
We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Check out this episode!

Training

Training Tips: The Week I Hated Every Customer Service Person I Met

1 Comment

I get it.

The customer is NOT always right. Sometimes they are jerks. Sometimes they are there just to make your day miserable.

And yet: our entire job, no matter what you are doing in a library is customer service.

The entire profession is built around helping people find information they need, in whatever format they need it: verbal, books, movies, programs, toys – whatever.

Customer service is all we do.

And it’s hard. It’s hard every single day. If you let it, this part of the job will make you angry and bitter and unpleasant.

I have been thinking about this a LOT in the past couple of weeks. I needed to get new social security card, driver’s license, health insurance card, passport – all those tedious documents that you need to get through life.

I absorbed a couple of good lessons.

First: I’m an incredibly privileged person.  Yes, I know this on a daily basis, and I do work on gratitude all the time. I currently have a wonderful job that I love, I have great colleagues – in the office and around the state, I’m pretty confident every month that I’m going to afford housing AND food, and I have access to all the library books I could possibly want. These things have not always been true for me, and I’m a big believer in recognizing that all of these gifts have not arrived because I work hard or that I’m a nice person. Good things arrive in part just due to being fortunate in ways you have no influence or control over – so be grateful.

I’m immensely grateful that my daily life does not involve needing to get things from social security, the driver’s license facility, or other such offices.

Because the second thing I absorbed was not new, but worth noting: the customer service in these places is awful.

Everyone I have dealt with in the last couple of weeks hates their jobs, hates the people they deal with, and – unsurprisingly – have become hateful people. They were rude, bored, uncaring, and unhelpful. The only time they seemed to be happy with work was when they were thwarting what I asked them to do.

Fortunately for me, I did not desperately need anything from these people – because it would be horrible to have my life hanging in the balance with these people who just don’t care, or are even actively trying to make me upset. And yet: it was just awful to deal with these people who showed me such terrible service. In the midst of trying not to have a stroke in excessive annoyance and frustration with their idiocy, I did take time to be grateful that I was merely deeply annoyed – my life was not actually impacted in a big way. (Let’s see if I can actually get onto an airplane with my new ID….I’m slightly doubtful. But maybe providing some substandard, actively unhelpful, service to me made their day a little brighter. Someone should get something out of it, after all.)

And it made me think about libraries.

All libraries have hard customers, and people who drive them nuts.

But let’s strive to be better than just a knee-jerk response of annoyance and frustration to people. It’s not easy. It’s very hard. But nobody deserves to bear the brunt of our bad days – even when they are the cause of that frustration for us.

None of us are constantly perfect at customer service. I know I can look back and wince at people I’ve treated badly, or could have been better to. But in the spirit of the new year, this is a great time for all of us to think about how to improve in this area with a few basic ideas.

  • Positive attitude. Yes, this will not save you from bad patrons. But starting off being annoyed and angry will definitely cause the person you are talking with to catch those negative emotions. Work on staying positive, and see whether you can reduce or even turn around a bad situation.
  • Show a little empathy. You don’t have to overdo this – it can be exhausting and unproductive if you overindulge. But if you take a moment to empathize with the person who has screaming children (be thankful you only have them for a short time), the one who smells bad (thankful again for your indoor plumbing), who seems incapable of understanding directions or implementing them (be thankful for your skills) – it can reduce your frustration and give you a little boost of service energy to try it one more time.
  • Depersonalize situations. Hopefully you have some patrons you like, and enjoy chatting with each day. Great! But do not feel like you have to pour all your emotional energy into interacting with people who bring good or bad energy. When you remove your personal feelings from a conflict situation, no matter how small or large, it gives you a surprising boost in your ability to deal with people. (Was I a delightful example of this over the last week? No, I was not.)

You can think of many more ideas – some that work for you individually, and some that work for everyone.

You may already be a star at good customer service, you may be feeling your skills slide in the face of unrelenting annoyance from patrons. Wherever you are, it’s good to take a step back and recognize that this is a crucial skill.

We are a customer service profession. It’s all we really have and all we do. Keep striving to provide the best service you can!