This 60-minute training webinar is another in our “Service, Safety, and Security” series for all library staff and library leaders, presented by Library 2.0 and hosted by ALA author and library service, safety, and security expert, Dr. Steve Albrecht. A handout copy of the presentation slides will be available to all who participate.
From about 12 to about 17 is a tough age span for a lot of kids. Library staffers get to see a powerful collision between puberty, hormones, immaturity, anti-authority feelings, peer pressure, and an intense desire not to be embarrassed in front of their peers by other kids or adults. Things get better for most teenagers as they near 18, but there is no question most library professionals would say that, especially if their facility is near a middle school or a high school, they see students as their biggest behavioral and compliance challenges, after patrons with mental health or substance use problems.
Tweenagers, teenagers, and students can work alone or in groups to make the library a loud, disruptive, even fearful place, as they bully other kids, bother adults, and disobey and insult staff. Many older library patrons avoid the building between 2 pm and 5 pm, when the nearby junior high or high school has let out and some of the kids are just a handful and a half. It’s easy for some library employees to lose patience with some kids who are loud and disrespectful in the library because they forget They Are Kids. Feeling their oats is in their DNA. Smarting off to adults goes back with children only a few thousand years; it just is what it is.
This session will offer some unique ideas to get better compliance with younger patrons, using both time-tested methods and Outside the Box (OTB) solutions.
About the Speaker
DR. STEVE ALBRECHT. Since 2000, Dr. Steve Albrecht has trained thousands of library employees in 28+ states, live and online, in service, safety, security, and supervision. His programs are fast, entertaining, and provide tools that can be put to use immediately in the library workspace with all types of patrons. In 2015, the ALA published his book, Library Security: Better Communication, Safer Facilities. He is currently writing the sequel, The Safe Library: Keeping Users, Staff, and Collections Secure, for Rowman & Littlefield. Steve holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board-certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment. He has written 24 books on business, security, and leadership topics. He lives with six dogs, two cats, and three chickens. (Not all in the same room, of course.)
