The following questions come up in libraries around the country: “Why didn’t you tell your boss you were being sexually or racially harassed by a patron? Do your co-workers know about this? Why did you wait so long to report this? Can we ban a patron for this type of repeated behavior?”
The short answers are: “I was afraid or embarrassed”; “Yes, and they have their own stories to tell about being harassed”; “I didn’t want to cause problems; I just wanted it to stop”; and “Yes!”
Library staff members have the right to work in a workplace environment where the directors, managers, and supervisors: pay attention to harassment situations; listen to employee concerns; intervene and investigate as necessary; and use various HR or Code of Conduct-related tools, based on the severity of the incidents, to stop the problem.
Library leaders must create the kind of culture where employees aren’t afraid of or are unsure of how to report patron harassment; to help to manage staff fears on this issue, and be ready to take the right steps on behalf of their staff. Staff members must have the courage to know how and when to tell their bosses (or HR, or their city/county/agency attorneys, among others) if they are being harassed by other patrons. In other words, we can’t fix what we don’t know about.
This 60-minute webinar-based training program is suitable for all library directors, managers, supervisors, and (full and part-time) employees.
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.)
