It Comes With the Territory: Handling Problem Situations in Libraries - Hardcover

Turner, Anne M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0899508448 ISBN 13: 9780899508443

Publisher: McFarland Publishing, 1993

Synopsis

The mission of libraries is to meet the information needs of the people they serve--but daily, sticky situations arise that make this tough to do. Reports of peepers, use of the library by the homeless for sleeping, inappropriate Internet use by patrons; encounters with offensive personal hygiene, skateboarding in the stacks, the threat of violence, one's role as a babysitter for latchkey children, censorious complaints: Is there an upswing or are librarians just more sensitized? How do libraries meet these demands? From the perspective of a working director, this thoroughly updated and revised edition is a commonsense guide to setting fair and appropriate behavior rules and training staff in how to implement them evenhandedly and with reasonably good humor. Issues surrounding street people, the mentally ill, and substance abusers, sexual deviancy and parental child abuse in the library; community censorship; confidentiality of library records; general security; and unaccompanied children, including protecting them and seeing to their emergency medical needs, are among the topics. Emphasis is placed on staff training and writing effective manuals.

About this title

About the Author

Anne M. Turner, director of the Santa Cruz City-County Library System, lives in San Francisco, California.

From Booklist

As Gordon Conable explains in the foreword to the second edition, this manual should stimulate "useful conversation" and suggest ways to balance professional values and legal requirements while achieving user-friendly service. The three parts of this practical volume cover writing good rules for behavior; typical problems (from street people to nasty behavior to Internet use); and practical advice on securing buildings, writing manuals, and training staff. The appendixes contain the Library Bill of Rights and guidelines and samples for development of policies and procedures. This guide is practical and offers useful approaches and techniques for handling a variety of situations. Staff training to implement fair and appropriate behavior rules is emphasized. The book should be useful in any size public library. Patricia Hogan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: McFarland Publishing
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0899508448
• ISBN 13: 9780899508443
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 197