Just because something is illegal and has been for a long time (1964, to be exact), doesn’t mean it has stopped happening. The passage of the Civil Rights Act started the necessary discussions and prevention processes to address sexual and racial harassment in many facets of our personal and professional lives, including the workplace.
And yet, despite sexual and racial harassment being a well-defined issue — with policies; notification choices; investigation steps; support for targets; and consequences for perpetrators — it exists as a shadow issue in many agencies, including libraries. Where many organizations have to deal with harassers who are other co-workers, in the library environment, it’s most likely to come from patrons, vendors, visitors, and even the possibility of elected or appointed officials.
Dr. Steve Albrecht has heard about this concern so often from his library training clients that he devoted a chapter from his forthcoming book, The Safe Library, to the problem. Library leaders, managers, and supervisors need to know what is happening if it affects the safety and peace of mind of their employees. They can’t fix what they don’t know about. Library employees need to have the courage to talk about these issues with each other, report them to management, and expect a resolution that creates a harassment-free workplace.
To prevent it, we need to discuss its many forms and empower harassment targets (Steve does not like the term “victims”) to protect and defend themselves, using all legal, ethical, and creative means.
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.)
