Tag Archives: training tips

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!

Tech, Training

Training Tips: Password security

Yay: online security!!

We are big fans of this – and hope that you are too.

I know: when I hear about online security I start sighing and thinking about how busy I am, and how long this going to take, and how hard it will be to look up all this information.

SIGH.

We all know it’s important. We all know we have accounts that have been hacked. We know we have passwords and user names floating around on the dark web (even when we aren’t really sure what that means).

I’m entirely with you.

BUT!

We talked about password managers a couple of weeks ago. (Check it out right here.)  Hopefully you have gone ahead and installed one.

Yay!!

(I’m still cheering for you if you haven’t quite done it yet, but are mentally getting ready. Go! Do it! You’ve got this!!)

I use Password Boss, and it’s just great. (For me. You can choose one that is great for you!) Right there you can see how many of your passwords have been compromised, how much of your information has been found on the dark web, how many duplicate passwords you have, how many are weak, and how many are old.

Guys: it’s a pretty daunting report each time you turn on your computer. It’s right there, and it looks scary.

However, it’s just so easy to fix! All you do is click on an account where you have a password (join me in being stunned by the number of passwords you have that you have totally forgotten!), and hit “Update.”

Your browser opens and takes you there. Then you do not need to know or remember your sign-in info – just click on the little owl icon of Password Boss and it will fill in your info, and sign you in.

This is the harder part – and it’s all due to Poor Web Design. You have to hunt around each website to find the “Change Password” or similar link. You do not need to be clever and think of something new – just hit Password Boss’s “generate a new password” and you will get a big number of random letters (capital and small), numbers, and symbols. Every website will have its own password now – and Password Boss will remember them all!

It’s sadly surprising how often there are no chances to do this. The easiest thing is to log out, then click “forgot my password” and reset it there. It’s still easy.

I had hundreds of compromised passwords, so set a goal to update at least five every day. I’m down now to the final few that have really challenging websites, and I feel much safer!

Whew!

Even better – I’m TERRIBLE at remembering passwords! Messing up passwords over and over again has resulted in my being locked out of a staggering number of really important websites (Yes: I’ve been locked out of every retirement account I have, every bank account I have, every credit card I’ve ever had, my HSA – you see where this is going.) Now, I NEVER HAVE TO REMEMBER ANOTHER PASSWORD!

The joy I feel over this is staggering!! I even have it on my phone, and it works there too!

We’ve all got plenty of problems and hassles in life. Find a password manager that works for you, and get ready to make your online life safer and easier.

 

And of course, it goes without saying: Your library needs this!!!!

You may think you are just a little library with nothing to offer a hacker. But they love the practice of taking over websites and accounts that people are leaving unsecured.  Let’s not let your library be the sad disaster story we all tell each other as we shake our heads sadly over your misfortune.

Get a password manager. Keep your passwords fresh and new.

Go be safe today!!!

Training

Training Tips: Reader’s Advisory (Or: Let’s talk about books!)

We’ve talked about Reader’s Advisory skills in other places, but it’s always a topic worth revisiting. No matter what type of library you are in,  you will need to chat with your patrons about books. (It’s kind of our brand!)

The easiest way to learn about all kinds of books is to subscribe to our book group podcast: Reading With Libraries. Each week we talk about a different genre, and our Guest Hosts share their ideas about the genre and books they enjoy. It’s fast, it’s fun, and we share a lot of good resources you can use to find books to share with your patrons or to add to your own TBR pile!

Subscribe our podcast by searching Reading With Libraries on any podcast app. Or you can just go right to our website to stream any episode in our archives, as well as new ones as they come out.

Season Three starts on January 3, and we will drop 15 episodes – one a week until we are done. We have so many fun topics this season! Cookbooks, Weather, Cyberpunk, Short Stories, and so many more. You won’t want to miss a moment of what will be an entertaining and educational season!

Join us! Let’s read together!!

Technical Services, Training

Training Tips: You need a password manager!

Each week in this series we talk about another small thing you can work on to make yourself ever more skilled, and help your library to be better able to serve your community. This week’s tip can do both!

Have you heard of password managers? If you read articles or listen to podcasts about web security, you have doubtless seen reference to them – and strident urging to get one immediately.

If you have not already tried the podcast Reply All, I highly recommend it in general. Very fun, they solve tech issues in a long story form, and it’s informative. Specifically, I recommend listening to Episode #91: The Russian Passenger. You can click on that link, go to their episode site, and listen right there. (There is also a follow up: Episode #111 The Return of the Russian Passenger.)

You might also want to listen to Episode #130: the Snapchat Thief.  Or #97 What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished? And really, there are tons of others.

But the point is that a password manager is just a wonderful tool.

Possibly you are like me, and feel senility creeping up on you when YET AGAIN you are totally unable to remember a password. I have been locked out of so many website for trying to guess too many times, it’s just pathetic.

And do you use the same password everywhere?

I came up with a couple of good ones, and then proceeded to use them. Over and over again. For a few years.

Needless to say, they are both floating around the dark web after being hacked (probably multiple times) on big websites. (Hey, thanks for that, Adobe!!)

And we share passwords at work, for accounts we need to share – so I can’t just change it every week when I’ve forgotten one! (Okay, I’ve actually done this; but for a variety of reasons this is really bad practice.)

I had been hearing about password managers for a while, and it all sounded so complicated. I’m a person who can let a problem drag on until it’s REALLY a problem, if I’m not feeling motivated.

Then our website went out.

Still not sure what happened – though I believe it was user error. (*cough* me, making adjustments) But it propelled password managers right up the to-do list!

And I have to tell you: This Is GLORIOUS!!!

I now have a lovely password manager I bought that remembers ALL my passwords! It hosed up everything I had asked Firefox to remember, so it literally knows more than I do. It also tells me how many are duplicates, how many have been exposed in hacking attacks – and how many times. Yeah, that’s a little depressing.

But it’s SO EASY! When I go to a new site, I hit “Generate a new password” and it sets some random selection of numbers, letters, and symbols – as many as I want. (I think it’s defaulting to 25?) Then it sets that up on the website, and it remembers in its own files.

Done.

When I need it, the password manager just signs me into the site again – I never see it and life is good.

And I’m slowly going through the hundreds of passwords I have from life before the password manager – changing and updating every single one. (It’s really shocking how many passwords you have out there! And, how infrequently you can just delete your information from sites you used one time.)

 

There are lots of options out there. I’m using (and loving) Password Boss. Angie has a different one. And the Reply All people recommend one in their podcast. I’m guessing you can’t go far wrong with any of them.

 

Save your online life – and that of your library!! –  from being hacked. Get a password manager today!

Training

Training Tips: The Six Ps of Publicity

You need to talk about your library, and all your cool stuff. And you need to do it All The Time! You never know when you are going to make a connection, or say something at just the right time for people to hear it.

Like anything, publicity has a system you can follow. In this case, it’s often called the six Ps of Publicity. We are going to walk through them briefly here, and you can find more info online or in books or articles about marketing.

  • The right Product: This includes all the stuff your library has to offer to your community members. You want it to be things they want to use, or things they need.
  • The right Price: Many of your items will not be charged for directly, but you may have some things that are for sale directly, or that you charge for (meeting room rentals, special access to researchers, etc.), and you want to be thinking about how to charge for that.
  • The right Place: You want to be connected to the community, so you need to be where they are. If you are in an elementary school, you are probably right in the same building; if you are in a university library,  an increasing number of your students are probably off campus and maybe not in your state or even your country. Develop online and mail resources to be in place!
  • Promote the right way: Too many libraries use marketing material that looks like a kid made it – and not in a good way. You want to know how to use good colors (not salmon, for example), how to use good graphics, and how to assemble material that does not look like an amateur did it. This can really diminish your image when done poorly.
  • To the right People: You want to know your community. This does not mean people who live near you; instead, a community is all the people who you are serving. So you want to be able to connect with individuals in that group, and with groups within the larger group. Different people will want different things; you need to know what they are.
  • At the right Point in time: Think about promoting programs and services: not too long in advance, or people will forget, and not too close to the time because people won’t be able to change plans.

Keep promoting yourself!!!

Remember: CMLE is here to help members who want to work on this kind of stuff, and are not sure where to start or want to bounce around some ideas. We are here for you!