Category: Fortifying Your Library

A series of posts by MBLC Library Advisory Specialist Al Hayden designed to help you fortify your library to protect you, your staff, and your patrons.

🏷️💲 How much do book challenges cost?

In a previous post, I stressed the importance of laying out requirements for Requests for Reconsideration (RfRs). RfRs take extensive time and effort which end up costing the library in time, effort and taxpayer dollars that are taken away from doing another part of library work for your community. Let’s explore this in a bit more detail. I’ve discussed how professional librarians are tasked with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This is because libraries are, by and large, municipal departments. The largest portion of funds from municipal budgets generally go towards staff salaries. Remaining municipal funds, plus funds from state aid, and donations from Friends groups or Foundations are often applied towards programs that move the library’s community forward in areas such as (but definitely not limited to): 

  • digital literacy and bridging the digital divide  
  • helping skilled workers enter the job pipeline 
  • aiding budding entrepreneurs 
  • guiding new Americans to become valuable citizens in our society 
  • offering early literacy guidance to families 
  • preparing children for kindergarten readiness 
  • supporting K-12 students by partnering with schools 
  • safeguarding patron privacy 

These are the types of regular duties that professional and paraprofessional library staff are spending their time on, in addition to the more visible services of ensuring access to information, including your library holds. Libraries are offering essential services to their communities at no cost to individual patrons, making the most of every penny a municipality invests in them. * Any time spent by staff members at any level that are outside the regular duties I’ve described can put a strain on already limited time and budgets. **   

️🔢 Let’s compile some numbers

When a book, program, display or other library service is challenged, much of what I described above gets put on hold to address the concern(s) brought to the library. The cost of these challenges is not often discussed, so finding data points such as the average cost of a single challenge, or how much a state spends on book challenges over the course of a year are difficult to find and even more difficult to standardize. Many don’t realize that book (or display, or program) challenges are a very real strain on taxpayer funds. Costs vary between states and municipalities based on staff salaries and more. Much of the data gathered about the cost of book challenges is from schools and indicates that schools across the US have spent more than $3 billion each year on investigating book challenges. There is less data on how much public library challenges cost. However, the MBLC collects data that all certified public libraries report annually through ARIS and in recent years we’ve included statistics on formal RfRs or intellectual freedom challenges.***

For our current purposes, we can calculate the cost of book challenges for fiscal year 2023 in Massachusetts’s public libraries based on the data we already routinely collect:  

  • The average hourly wage of a professional (i.e. MLIS holding) librarian in MA is $33.56/hr.  
  • I will also use this wage ($33.56) the professional librarian salary for library Administration but please keep in mind: 
  1. Library Administration (Directors and Assistant Directors) earn higher salaries than the average professional librarian, but the difference between administrative and professional salaries varies widely across municipalities.  
  2. Not every library has an Assistant Director (or equivalent) 
  3. This makes any result from these calculations VERY conservative.  
  • There were 40 unique challenges to materials, services or programs in MA in FY24. 

🔎 What really goes into a Request for Reconsideration?

How long does a reconsideration process take once a formal request for reconsideration (RfR) has been activated? This will vary by library, but using the guidelines outlined in my previous blog post and figures based on request for reconsideration procedures already in place at some public libraries, here is an approximation of the time investment for each step of the process: 

Steps of the RfR ProcessApproximate time invested
A Library Director, upon receiving a challenge, will usually spend some time researching the material being challenged, the reviews of the material and the library’s collection development policy 1 HOUR
Provided the library has a large enough staff, the Director will assemble a review committee of about 3 professional librarians who will research the material in question and its reviews along with the challenger’s complaint, and discuss a course of action based on the collection development policy 3 staff members, each investing about 3 hours = 9 HOURS
The Director will inform the staff member who ordered the book about the challenge. The Director will also inform the Chair of the Board of Library Trustees, ensuring the Board is aware that the issue is being handled according to policy. This also ensures Board has some background information should the complainant wish to appeal the library’s decision to the Trustees.  1 HOUR
The review committee will meet with the Library Director and inform the Director of their decision, including reasoning  1HOUR


The Director will compose a response based on the committee findings, informing the person who put forth the request of the library’s decision 1 HOUR
This totals approximately 13 hours of senior/administrative staff time. 

Multiplying the total staff time spent (13 hours) by the average hourly wage ($33.56) , the cost to the challenge 1 book in Massachusetts is $436.28, at a minimum.
(13 x $33.56 = $436.28)

For the 40 challenges MA libraries received in FY2024, the cost was more than $17,415 in taxpayer dollars and more than 520 hours of senior/administrative staff time devoted to book challenges. The process is very similar for a challenge to a program or service. ****  

One more note about the factors in the above calculations.  They only take into account senior staff and admin time, but the time, energy, and efforts for reconsideration taken on by professional staff not directly involved in a challenge (ex. the staff member who ordered the challenged item) or paraprofessional staff who are often the ones at the front desk fielding the initial complaint should not be underestimated. They are not included in these calculations because the costs are very difficult to standardize in terms of both wages and time spent with someone submitting a complaint. But never forget that it is generally the staff on the frontlines that are getting the unfiltered initial complaints that are often emotionally charged.  

Which leads me to one, final note about the costs of requests for reconsideration. There is an incalculable emotional cost at every level of these challenges. Even under the best of circumstances, if someone is moved enough to go through the process to formally challenge something in the library, they feel very strongly about their position. How members of the public express their concern varies widely, but no matter how much experience a staff member has in libraries, or how many years they have been working at public service points, the underlying emotional tension associated with a challenge is high. It is most important for everyone to keep in mind that library workers – at all levels – are people first; they are more than the items they order or the programs they put on or the desks that they work. They are professionals and paraprofessionals who feel strongly about doing the best for their community. It will vary widely from person to person, but when the public calls into question the dedication of library workers to the library’s mission, the emotional cost is immeasurable. 

* Last week’s blog post “Calculating and Communicating Your ROI” details how valuable these services are in terms of municipal return on investment (ROI), and you can check out different library value calculators to determine your library’s ROI. 

** In Massachusetts’s fiscal year 2024, the total percentage of the state’s general fund that was invested into libraries totalled 1.09%. To find out what percent of its budget your municipality invests in libraries, and to see how that percentage compares to the state’s investment, take a look at your municipal pie.  

***  We also collect data on informal challenges (complaints, turning books spine-in, relocating a book without staff knowledge, etc. but without taking the step of filing an RfR) which are also a strain on time and budgets, but those are much more difficult to calibrate.  

**** While the above description applies to the procedures when a program is challenged, there is often an extensive increase in security, sometimes with the use of both municipal police and private security. This also incurs costs paid for by taxpayer dollars. 

Special Edition: Calculating and Communicating Your ROI

We interrupt your regularly scheduled, policy-centered fortification with a practical guide on determining just how much value your library contributes to your community. Welcome to ROI 101: Your library’s return on community investment. In this Fortifying Friday post, I’ll be showing you some tools that can help you calculate the value of your services to your community and the return on investment those services bring for every tax dollar that’s invested in your library. I’ll also give you some suggestions on how to frame those numbers in a way that can be meaningful to those who are making decisions about library funding.  

Return on Investment 

A return on investment (ROI) is generally a metric that’s used in the business world to calculate how much profit was gained from an investment. As a government service, public libraries obviously don’t turn a profit, nor are they meant to. But that doesn’t mean that libraries don’t add immense value to their communities. While some of that value will always be incalculable (who can quantify the positive feelings or nostalgia someone feels in a library?), there are some very concrete ways to quantify what a library offers its users and non-users alike. Enter the ROI.  

Most public libraries in Massachusetts are funded by a combination of municipal, state and some federal tax dollars. Though some are also privately funded as independent 501(c)3 organizations, they still receive enough municipal appropriations to obtain state certification and state aid. For our purposes, we will be looking at the return on investment for the municipal tax dollars, i.e. what the city or town spends on its public library, as these are generally the largest part of a library’s budget and are the funds most likely to be applied to the most common library services. The library’s municipal officials (town management, select board, city council, etc.) are also likely to be familiar with an ROI figure as an understandable and relatable metric. 

There’s a Calculator for That 

How does a library start calculating its ROI? Fortunately, the Maine State Library* still posts a ROI calculator that was developed by MLA and the Chelmford Library’s Brain Herzog. So what’s left for you to do is obtain the correct statistics to plug into that tool. Those statistics they’re asking for? You already have them. Your ARIS statistics that you submit to the MBLC every August have the numbers you need. Click “calculate” and you’ll have a number.  

Don’t get too excited (yet). The number you get from the calculator isn’t your ROI. That number is the dollar amount of what your services would cost the average person if they were paying for them out of pocket. The next number you need is your municipal appropriation, which you can also easily get. While you may have this number in your budget files and in your financial reporting that you submit to the MBLC in October, you can also get it in relation to the budget of the other departments in your municipality.  

Have a Slice of Municipal Pie 

As a self-admitted data nerd, this is quite possibly one of the most underrated library tools out there (the CensusData tool runs a close second). Allow me to introduce you to the municipal pie. This link will take you to the MA Department of Revenue’s site that lists and charts every MA municipality’s budget info and breaks it down by department. Here is where you see your total municipal budget appropriation and where your budget falls in relation to other departments in your city or town. Here’s how you get there: 

  • Find your municipality from the drop-down.  
ALT TEXT

Screenshot of detail of website with Division of Local Services: MA Department of Revenue logo indicating the content of “Schedule A General Fund and Library Expense Prepared for the Board of Library Commissioners” with a drop-down menu asking to “Select Municipalities” and listing the name of MA municipalities with a selectable check box next to each option 

  • Choose the fiscal year you want to see. (For ROI purposes, it’s best to use the most recent, but you can also compare to previous years for other interesting information.)  
ALT TEXT

Screenshot of detail of website with Division of Local Services: MA Department of Revenue logo indicating the content of “Schedule A General Fund and Library Expense Prepared for the Board of Library Commissioners” with a drop-down menu asking to “Select Fiscal Years” and listing years from 2024 back to 2003 with a selectable check box next to each option

  • Click on “Chart Library Expenditures” to see the pie chart breaking the tax dollar budget appropriations for your municipality. For demonstration purposes, this pie chart is for ALL the municipalities in MA. That tiny pie slice is the percent of the budget that all libraries have in the overall budget of Massachusetts. In other words, on average, libraries across the state are 1.1% of the Commonwealth’s budget. How does your municipality compare?** 
ALT TEXT

Screenshot of detail of website with Division of Local Services: MA Department of Revenue logo. The selectable option “Chart Library Expenditures” is highlighted.

What’s Your Number?  

OK – you have your calculated value and your municipal appropriation. To calculate your return on investment, divide the value determined in the library calculator by your total municipal budget, (calculated value / municipal budget = ROI). This number will very likely be greater than 1. When you multiply this number by 100, you’ll get your ROI percentage. This is a valuable metric that will be understood by a good portion of your community regardless of their connection with the library. 

Spread the news!  

Your library’s percentage is very likely over 100% and is probably somewhere between 100-1000%. The most important thing you can do now is to put that in context for your community. Here’s an example:  

  • You’ve calculated that your ROI is 430% 
  • What this means: The value of your library’s services is 4.3 times what your municipality invests in your library 
  • Or: For every $1 tax dollar that your municipality invests in your library they get $4.30 back in services that do not cost your community any additional money 
  • To put it another way: You’re offered a savings account where, for every dollar you put into that account you get $4.30 back in interest. (I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t take that deal.) That is essentially what your library is offering where, in this case the interest = services.

One more point you want to stress: those services that are worth 430% MORE than the tax dollars that have been invested to your library do not cost your community any additional money. The people using your services are doing so at no additional cost to them beyond the taxes they have already paid into their community. No one is asking them to pay a fee to take advantage of a staff member’s expertise on safely and critically navigating the internet. No one is charging admission for the early literacy benefits of a story time at the library. Libraries are not charging per hour for after school programs that tutor kids and give them skills to succeed. Most of us know (as I’ve previously mentioned) that if you are considered a municipal employee (and most library workers are; even association libraries usually get their staff salaries from their municipal budget), then you have a responsibility to be good stewards of tax dollars. Your ROI is concrete data offering proof that you are stretching those tax dollars as far as they can go.  

Once you have your number and its context, get this information out into your community! Do NOT wait to get this information out there. Your ROI is not an “ace in the hole” number to pull out only during budget negotiations (though it can be helpful to remind your municipality of your ROI during those negotiations). This is a number that everyone who enters the library, uses library services, or has a say in library services should be able to see. Put it on flyers; post it around the library; add it somewhere on your website; send everyone picking up a hold home with a bookmark that tells them just how much their tax dollars are offering them. Update this information every year as your new budget comes through. Most importantly, arm your advocates with this information. The more people in your community who know the value of the services you are offering to your community, the better. I’ve talked before about showing the community you’re a good steward of tax dollars. This is a great way to demonstrate what good stewards you are because you are backing that info with data. You are telling your community: we know how to stretch a dollar and get the most out of the money we’re given. You give us $1 and we will use that dollar to give our community services that are worth multiple times your investment.  

*There are other library calculators out there, but the ALA links to the Main State Library one while their tool is, unfortunately, not currently available.

** A note for Association libraries: your “slice” of pie will likely be considerably below the average since your primary sources of income are structured differently than municipal libraries. That doesn’t mean you can’t still get some great data, though! 

Policy: Library Employee Rights & Responsibilities 

Last week I mentioned possibilities to take into consideration when writing a patron rights & responsibilities policy. Much of that focused on the “responsibilities” part of that policy, but our patrons should have rights when they use the library space as well. Library users deserve to have consistent expectations when they are in the building. This means that library staff members must be accountable for the way they compose themselves and treat patrons. By and large, this isn’t an issue. I have yet to walk into a library in Massachusetts and not be greeted by stellar customer service at all levels. But people’s definition of “good” customer service can vary, so it’s important to define what treating someone equitably and well means for your library, then train your staff appropriately.  

This is another place where policy can be a huge asset. It takes the guesswork out of your expectations for your staff both on the supervisory front and on the patron side. If everyone is working off of the same policy, they are working off of the same set of expectations which means consistency that engenders trust throughout your staff and community. This has the added bonus of staff being able to help and support each other more easily because they are all working off the same guidelines. Remember when I mentioned having a copy of your policy binder at every service point and a digital copy accessible to all staff? Having a copy within reach takes the guesswork out of wondering if you’re doing the right thing. Staff members don’t have to speculate whether it’s OK for a patron to be doing x behavior in the library or if their response to a situation is something that’s appropriate. They can pull out the policy binder to check, or grab the binder to help guide a colleague through a tricky situation.  

Staff Responsibilities 

Here are some suggestions to guide your staff in a patron behavior policy. Staff can be accountable for: 

  • Weighing degree of disruptive conduct with onsite conditions. For example: it worth the confrontation to tell someone who is speaking loudly to quiet down when it looks like their conversation is ending anyway and the room is otherwise empty?  
  • Being tactful, firm, and respectful when handling disruptive behaviors 
  • Clearly communicate to a patron the reasons for the action they are taking when they are enforcing library policy 
  • Never, under any circumstances, touching a patron as part of a disciplinary action 
  • Whenever possible, refraining from touching a patron who may be in distress, for example: If a 911 operator asks you to move a patron or check a pulse, you have every right to say “I’m not comfortable doing that” and ask for ways to assist without making physical contact.  Another example: Touching a person who may be sleeping in an attempt to wake them up. If the person is having a health emergency, touching them can make it worse. If the person isn’t in distress but is disoriented when they awake, you’re putting yourself in potential (if unintentional) harm’s way by being in such close proximity 
  • Explaining and distributing policy upon request or when intervening with a policy violation 
  • Conducting themselves that’s conducive to a welcoming atmosphere 
  • Filling out an incident report every time a patron’s behavior must be corrected or intervened upon (when in doubt, fill it out!) 
  • Seeking out supervisors and/or public safety officials (911, non-emergency police line, etc.) in any ongoing or escalating patron issues

Policy is not a performance review

While it’s important for staff expectations to be outlined in a patron behavior policy, it’s also important that the staff expectations focus on treating patrons respectfully and equitably, and what patrons can expect from staff in relation to policy enforcement. They should not go into procedures such as how to maintain the desk at a public service point or even the procedures to follow once a staff member has had a patron encounter. Keeping staff expectations for this particular policy focused on patron interactions can keep staff from feeling micromanaged or singled-out.  

These patron-focused expectations also give your patrons a clear understanding of how they will reliably be treated, which can go a long way to helping a patron, who may not otherwise be comfortable in a public or government space, consider the library a place where they are welcome. Consider putting up brief, direct signs with icons explaining what’s expected of patrons in your library, particularly if the library often welcomes individuals who may encounter many different types of spaces that are rule-bound. This prevents confusion and possibly uncomfortable situations for you and other patrons if your rules differ from that of a school, group home, senior center, etc.  

All people are welcome – all behaviors are not 

Under no circumstances should any staff member, at any level, feel uncomfortable or unsafe in their workplace. Remember that policy is designed to keep everyone safe, but first and foremost, the safety of you and your staff should be top of mind. With staff increasingly retiring or becoming burned out and leaving the field (librarianship lost 10% of it’s workforce each year between 2020 and 2022), ensuring a safe workplace becomes even more vital to the success of your library. Part of the reason for having a strong, succinct Patron Rights & Responsibility policy is so your staff (and you) can understand and explain it to patrons when they are not following it. Your staff can feel somewhat more at ease (no situation where you have to correct behavior is every really comfortable) in knowing that they have a document they can show someone as backup proof when they say “you are violating library policy and need to stop, please.” By placing the focus on the policy and not the staff member (i.e. “I need to you to stop, please”) it directs the patron’s attention away from the staff member hopefully keeping the situation from escalating.  

Even the best policies won’t stop at least some situations from escalating, but yelling, invasion of personal space or boundaries, attempts to access staff-only areas, or other inappropriate interactions are unacceptable behaviors for a library. If your staff member feels unsafe, that is not the time to give a patron their chances. If you implemented one of last week’s suggestions: “A space where everyone on library property is undisturbed, without threat of harm or the invasion of personal property or space” into your policy, that should apply to staff, too. You can also add a caveat under that particular line item (or wherever you feel it’s appropriate) that anyone exhibiting rude or inappropriate behavior including but not limited to verbal abuse, threats or displaying unwanted attention on another person will be asked to leave the library immediately. You can even add that the Director reserves the right to apply follow-up restrictions if the situation warrants it. There may be many reasons for bad behavior, but there is no excuse for tolerating it in a public space where everyone, especially those that call it their workplace should feel safe, welcome, and comfortable.  

If you recall the equitable section from last week’s post, that applies here as well. If a longstanding regular who is usually very mild-mannered yells at a staff member, there may be extenuating circumstances, but in that moment, they are acting inappropriately and need to be asked to leave immediately. After the incident report is filed and the situation is discussed, you may consider those extenuating circumstances in determining if any follow-up restrictions should apply and/or if you would like to hear the patron’s side of the story, but you may choose not to. If a patron you’re unfamiliar with begins hitting your printer because it’s jammed and then yells at a staff member who comes to help fix it, same rules apply. That person may never have used the library before and only came in because their printer crashed and they were on a deadline. You can choose whether or not to invite that person back to hear that side of the story in the hopes of gaining a long-term patron that otherwise uses the library in accordance to policy every day forward. In any situation the hardline stance that you need to have is that, in that moment, that patron is violating library policy and in accordance with library policy, must leave immediately, and for the rest of the day.  

Libraries aren’t just for the people; they ARE the people 

By not tolerating unacceptable behavior, you are demonstrating to the patrons that follow the rules and, most importantly, your staff – who should be able to come to each shift without worrying for their safety – that you value that safety above all else. Library staff are one of the library’s most important resources; they are the ones who add value to the library: applying their professional expertise to curate collections that are meaningful to the community, using their knowledge of the community to make connections so their community can thrive, connecting with other libraries to make networks that can share resources freely (which exponentially increases the value of all of the connected libraries), creating the resources that anyone can use to improve their lives, smiling and greeting regular patrons and new users alike, and so much more. There is a human component to all libraries that are essential to their function, making them the library’s most valuable asset. Libraries cannot welcome without staff. Libraries cannot serve without staff. Staff cannot make their libraries the essential third spaces they are, if they are not treated with respectful, appropriate behavior.

This is why we write policy – not to be punitive or to tell people what they can’t do, but to allow the people who make the library a place where all community members can feel comfortable, free to express their ideas, and free to use a space that asks for nothing but basic accountability in return, to use the knowledge, skills, and abilities they bring to their jobs every day, and gives them the space to do those jobs well.  

Policy: Patron Rights & Responsibilities 

If your collection development policy (including requests for reconsideration) has been recently updated, the next policy you may want to consider reviewing is your policy that oversees the expectations you have of your patrons and what your patrons can expect from your staff. This policy goes by many names; your may refer to yours as a Library Use Policy, Patron Behavior Policy, Patron Rights & Responsibilities, Code of Conduct or something else that suits the culture of your library. Regardless of what it’s called, this policy should outline exactly what is and is not acceptable behavior in your library.  

A note here before we get into specifics: it’s very easy to get bogged down with details in this type of policy. Especially if you’ve had a particularly bad experience that you are eager to avoid in the future, it can be tempting to put that in the policy. It can also be tempting to start catastrophizing and list every possible bad experience you are hoping to avoid in your library. If you work in libraries, you know that people will always find a way to surprise you and even the most exhaustive list will never be complete. Plus, you run the risk of a policy that is so long and involved it won’t get used regularly, if at all. That’s definitely not the goal.  

How do you envision the use of your library?  

A way to avoid falling down the particular rabbit hole of trying to anticipate infinite scenarios is to start by focusing on setting clear expectations about what kind of space you want your library to be for your community. Think about what you expect of every single person who walks through the door to use or staff the library. Refer to your strategic plan and mission/vision statements. Most likely you want everyone in the library to respect the people and the space. Here are some considerations you may want to include, keeping in mind any local and state laws that may affect your particular library:  

  • An alcohol, drug, and tobacco free space 
  • A space free of firearms and facsimiles 
  • A clean, comfortable environment 
  • A healthy space that follows the scientific guidelines of the CDC, local, and state public health standards 
  • An environment that allows use of the library without judgement or discrimination 
  • An institution that values the privacy of people and their information  
  • A space where everyone on library property is undisturbed, without threat of harm or the invasion of personal property or space 
  • Availability of equipment that facilitates upholding any of the standards you set for your library 

Begin to fill in some details 

While still keeping scenarios somewhat general, you can then begin to outline ways your vision for the library will be carried out. These are going to be the ways in which you will hold library users and staff accountable for coexisting in the space and using it responsibly. It will also be where you can explain what patrons and staff are encouraged to do and what they should refrain from doing while they are in the library. Keep in mind the list below contains suggestions. It is not an exhaustive list and what’s listed here may not work for your library or community. For more suggestions, I recommend going to MLS’s policy collection and navigating to their patron behavior or customer service sections. This list is designed to help you get started and to think about what’s possible for you.  

Alcohol, drug and tobacco free can address:  

  • Prohibiting use of any of these on library grounds which can include parking lots, outdoor spaces, etc., not just inside the building.  
  • The term “tobacco” instead of “smoking” can allow you to cover vaping and, if necessary, use of chewing tobacco without specifying each and every possible use 

No Firearms or facsimiles can address: 

“Facsimiles” can include “toy” firearms or firearm models made on 3D printers without having to run down a litany of all the possible ways a firearm can be represented 

Clean, comfortable, healthy space can address: 

  • Hygienic issues such as shoes, socks, shirts, etc. remaining on at all times  
  • Safety issues such as blocking sidewalks, walkways, stairwells, etc. 
  • Cell phone usage and whether it’s permitted, not allowed, or permitted only in certain areas of the library 
  • Defining spaces eligible for patron use and what spaces are staff-use only 
  • Pets in the library, whether animals (aside from service animals) are allowed at all or under what conditions non-service animals may be allowed on the premises and who is responsible for those animals 
  • Using outdoor equipment in the library or on library property, particularly if you have concerns about community members using your grounds as a skate park, arena for parkour or bike tricks, etc.  
  • Properly taking care of library property and considering responsibilities for damaging that property  
  • while using equipment or property in-building or on grounds 
  • when borrowing property and taking it off site  
  • Sleeping on library property  
  • This can be a good place to reserve the right to call 911 or non-emergency police/medical services if a patron is unresponsive or the staff is otherwise concerned for someone’s health and safety 
  • Leaving personal property unattended and who is responsible if something happens to that unattended property 
  • Sound levels – what is acceptable and in what areas 

Judgement free zone: Establish your library as a place people may use for a variety of reasons, nothing that all of those reasons are equally valid in the library’s eyes. People should feel the library is a safe space that they can use without worry. You can establish your library as a place that supports the needs of all people whether or not they are protected by law and whether or not they may be divisive in our society. You can also make a note that your library considers all activities equal and will be responded to equitably by staff. 

  • This approach has the bonus effect of minimizing the needs for lists. You don’t need to specifically lay out that a teen playing a computer game on the public computers has as much right to be in the library using that computer as someone using that same computer for academic research. You don’t need to delineate that a person using the library as a quiet space for refuge has as much of a right to use the library that way as someone attending a library-sponsored program.  
  • No individual’s use of the library should be considered more or less valuable than another individual’s use provided that they all follow the same behavioral guidelines. 

Equipment Availability 

  • Visibly placing trash and recycling receptacles in high-traffic and other logical spaces to encourage everyone to clean up after themselves and making it easier for them to do so 
  • Provide headphones for those who don’t have them if your idea of a comfortable environment includes a quiet space 
  • Offer short-term bike lock loans and position bike racks outside if your community experiences a lot of bike traffic and you want patrons to keep their bikes outside but also assured that their personal property won’t be disturbed 

Equitable Responses 

Library staff should respond to policy violations in the same way for the same violation. Outlining what a staff member should do when a patron is not complying with policy can minimize judgement calls that can put any staff person in an awkward situation. This does not have to encroach onto “procedure” territory; stating how many opportunities a patron has to correct their behavior before a a consequence is pursued is different from describing the steps to approach a given situation. For example, when a person is not complying with a particular aspect of a policy:  

  • Inform a patron that they are violating policy with the option to see a copy of the policy in question and request patron to stop  
  • A verbal warning as a next step, that if their behavior persists, they will not be allowed to continue their current activity 
  • Request patron to leave for whatever remains of that day if initial notice and verbal warning don’t work 
  • If the behavior is repeated on subsequent visits and to the extent that they have been asked to leave for the day X number of times, their use of the library will be suspended for a time determined by the Library Director based upon the severity of the infringement 

This approach sets clear expectations and boundaries based on behavior, NOT the individual and keeps the onus off of staff to make a judgement call as to how many “chances” a person gets before they are asked to stop, leave, etc. This approach also leaves a clear chain of authority. It should not be incumbent upon paraprofessional staff (front line or otherwise) to ask a patron to leave for the day after they’ve requested a patron to stop a behavior. This is a responsibility that should be reserved for senior or administrative level staff who, ideally, will have the experience and compensation to handle these more demanding tasks. Suspending a patron from library use for any length of time beyond the remainder of a day should land squarely on administrative shoulders as the Library Director (or designee in Director’s absence) would have the appropriate municipal connections to allow any kind of patron suspension to be enforced. This can include escorting a patron who is refusing to leave off the premises (which should NOT fall onto any library staff or administrator’s shoulders), issuing an order of no trespass, or checking back in to ensure the library staff are safe.  

If the library is to be a safe space for all, it needs to be a space where the people, property, facilities and equipment are treated with respect. The library is not a space to tolerate poor behavior. Once an unacceptable behavior is tolerated, it opens the door to possibly having to accept an escalation of that particular behavior and invites others to be emboldened to attempt other unacceptable behaviors. In order to keep this from happening, now is your chance to fall down that catastrophizing rabbit-hole just a little bit.  

  • Think of your most common scenarios in which a patron’s behavior is disruptive or otherwise causes your staff to complain to you. If you follow the response steps outlined above, do you feel the patron will get fair treatment and an appropriate number of chances?  
  • Now consider those more individualized experiences that you’d like to prevent from happening or wish you had a way to deal with when they happened (regardless of the likelihood it will happen again) and ask yourself the same question: If you follow the same response steps, do you feel the patron will get fair treatment and an appropriate number of chances?  
  • If you answer “yes” to these questions, you and your staff should be prepared (at least policy-wise) to handle the majority of behavioral infractions and library disruptions that come your way 
  • If you answer no at any point in the process, revise how you approach applying consequences for policy infractions until you can answer yes as you run down the list. 

Next week’s post will continue the suggestions for patron rights and responsibility policies, focusing staff responsibilities and keeping library employees safe. In the meantime, one last note that any policy discussing patron behavior should contain some type of notice that library staff, at any level, shall reserve the right to call 911 or the police non-emergency line should circumstances warrant their intervention. It is up to library administration to discuss with staff, as a group and individually if staff members have additional concerns, what “warranting circumstances” should be. I’ll go into more detail next week. 

Requests for Reconsideration 

If you are already looking over your collection development policies based on our last blog post, here is the other, crucial side of your collection development policy: offering a space for patrons to express their concern about library materials, or a Request for Reconsideration. 

You may have noticed how much the word “professional” was used in the last post. That is because, while librarians are trained professionals, they are often not recognized as such. It’s not common knowledge that to be a professional Librarian, someone needs to hold a Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS). Because we deal so frequently at the intersection of information and people, the rights upheld by the First Amendment come into play more often than many people would expect and it’s essential that the professional, non-partisan nature of librarianship should be emphasized.  

What is a Request for Reconsideration? 

When it is presented in good faith, a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) opens discourse between the library and its community and can create a better understanding between both parties. It’s important for the public to understand, however, that RfRs take extensive time and effort which ends up costing the library and the municipality’s taxpayer dollars – time, effort and taxpayer dollars that are taken away from doing another part of library work for your community. To allow professional librarians to continue to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and to understand the basis of a good faith request, requests for reconsideration should require the patron to fully consider their objection and put it in their own words. When putting together a standard RfR form to accompany your collection development policy, consider beginning with a basic template (you can find an example here) and then adding the following requirements to the process in order to protect the time and efforts of library staff and encourage good faith challenges: 

  • A signature that acknowledges both receipt and understanding of the collection development policy, including the review process 
  • A notice that challenged materials will NOT be removed, relocated, or restricted from any collection while under consideration 
  • The length of time before a specific title (item, material, etc.) may be challenged again once a decision has been made (for example: once a determination has been made a title cannot be challenged again for 2 years, including new editions that may come out) 
  • Notice that only an official reconsideration form will activate a reconsideration procedure. * Phone calls, rumors, voiced concerns, emails, social media comments, etc. are not sufficient to initiate a reconsideration process, though it is important for the library to keep track of these “informal” complaints. Anyone bringing a concern to the library may (and should) be given an official reconsideration form. 
  • Notice that an official reconsideration form must be filled out in its entirety. Incomplete, anonymous, or otherwise partially completed forms will not be sufficient to activate the process 
  • Notice that form(s) must be filled out in the challenger’s own words; copied and pasted text from other sources (websites, social media, etc.) invalidate the personal nature of the concern and may not be considered 
  • A statement requiring that the person raising a concern be a member of the community (ex. resident, cardholder, etc.). For example: “In striving to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, challenges brought by those outside the library’s community may not be considered” 
  • A request that the patron suggests alternative material that is of equal literary quality, can provide similar information, and convey as valuable a picture and perspective of the subject as the item they are requesting be removed 
  • A description of the appeals process should the patron disagree with the library’s initial response to the reconsideration request 
  • Ideally (depending upon library staffing levels), the process should consist of a review by a committee of professional staff appointed by the director 
  • 1st appeal of the committee decision should be to the Library Director 
  • 2nd (and final) appeal lies with the Library Board of Trustees who will conduct a challenge hearing and render their binding decision at the following Board meeting.  

Handling challenges to library materials 

Should a patron want to challenge library materials, they should be made aware of what to expect on the library’s part as well. Describing the process that a request for reconsideration will go through provides the community with transparency and accountability on behalf of the library.  

  • The Library should strive for a review timeline that is reasonable based on staffing conditions, ** but should also be timely in relation to a filed complaint. Two weeks to 1 month for a full, formal review from the filing of the initial complaint to providing the complainant with a decision is generally reasonable. Unless a severe staff shortage prevents the process from moving forward, all efforts should be made to keep the review process moving along swiftly.  
  • The Library should consider the item in question in its entirety, not taking passages, excerpts, clips, or descriptions out of context 
  • The Library should review all parts of the purchasing process and review the decision to make the purchase in the context of the collection development policy 
  • The Library should remain as objective as possible. Should the challenged item not meet the selection criteria, the library must be willing to acknowledge that the item is unsuitable for the library collection and withdraw the item.  
  • Whenever possible, the person who made the initial selection to purchase the item should not be on the appointed committee to review an item when it is challenged.   

Additional considerations you may want to make in regard to a reconsideration process:  

  • Require this process for challenges not just to selected materials, but to displays and programming as well. Displays and programs are also library services that are thoughtfully curated by professionals and are subject to internal guidelines and policies. You can include programming and displays in your collection development policy or have a separate policy on the curation and selection of display materials and programs. All complainants should receive a copy of the relevant polic(ies) to review, so make sure you are covered with what they may be objecting to.  
  • Keep frontline staff interactions at a minimum. Challenges are often highly charged exchanges, even when conducted civilly. This puts a stress on anyone receiving the complaint. Train frontline staff (use scripts if you can***) to acknowledge that the person is bringing a concern to them; inform the person that there is a formal procedure that all those who want to pursue a complaint must follow and; if at all possible, send that person to the Library Director (or official designee in the Director’s absence). Frontline staff’s efforts are best directed toward their regular duties, responding to the needs of patrons with more routine requests  

Expressing the responsibilities of both the complainant and the library ensures that a good faith challenge receives full consideration; reduces the appearance of arbitrariness (both in responding to a challenge and selecting materials); and clarifies the duties of the library staff when this situation arrives at your library’s doorstep.  

*  The library should strongly consider funneling all informal RfRs through the library’s administrative team. This will both limit the amount of time desk staff spend listening to complaints that, ultimately, they won’t have the power to address; and allows the official RfR form to be given to the person with a concern by someone with the knowledge to fully answer questions about the collection development policy and authority to respond to the patron’s request.  

** Staffing shortages are all too common in library services, particularly with professionals leaving library service. If you find at the beginning of the process that you are unable to follow the timeline set out in your policies, it is crucial that you are upfront about this, communicate it in an objective manner to the patron making a complaint and provide the patron with an updated timeline based on your current staffing situation.  

*** More information on scripts will be coming in a future blog post! 

Collection Development Policies 

Welcome back to our blog series helping libraries strengthen and protect themselves. The last post talked about policy in general. This and the next several posts will be offering recommendations for specific policies that, if you haven’t updated them within the last 2 years, you should be prioritizing their review. 

What makes a strong collection development policy?

The first policy that any library should make sure is strong, recent, and clear is their collection development policy. This policy explains to any interested member of the public the reasoning behind why your library chooses the items that go into your collection. It provides the guideposts by which library staff makes their decisions about what goes into a library collection. It is critical in helping the public understand that books don’t appear on the shelves by magic; they are not chosen blindly or at random and the amount of work and professional input that goes into managing a library’s collection is substantial. A strong collection development policy focuses on key distinctions that make libraries and librarians uniquely qualified to make materials choices:  

  • Professional training – make sure your policy clarifies that those making your collection development decisions are trained professionals. A Librarian with an MLIS will have had collection development training as part of their professional degree. If you have paraprofessionals making collection decisions, make sure they have received training so they understand the basic principles of collection development and understand prioritizing the needs of the community over personal preferences.  
A computer monitor displays library course content on a desk in a stock image, promoting collection development. The monitor shows "Basic Library Techniques: Collection Development and Management Part 1."

The Massachusetts Library System has just deployed a Collection Management course as part of their Basic Library Techniques learning modules. It provides solid understanding of what goes into collection development and management. Should this not fit your needs, there are several additional online options to make sure your staff are up to date on their skills. Feel free to reach out for some additional suggestions.

  • Professional review sources – Booklist, Library Journal, School Library Journal, are all professionally vetted review sources that librarians have relied upon and trusted for years. Collection decisions based on reviews by these professional journals (and select others, including but not limited to Horn Book, Publisher’s Weekly, etc.) are the primary means by which to make informed decision. Specify that you do NOT make collection decisions based on resources that are not widely professionally accepted. 
     For example: Common Sense Media is not a collection development tool, though it and other similar resources may be helpful readers' advisory tools to help patrons find material that are relevant to them. This recognizes that, while librarians do not have the time to personally read every book that goes in the collection, they are making those choices in good faith based on industry and professional standards. 
  • Weeding as part of professional collection duties – Weeding is a natural part of the collection cycle, but unexpected, large weeding projects can erode public trust. Community members are not library professionals and often don’t understand that weeding is not only a normal part of library operations, but an essential one to keep collections relevant, updated and circulating. Be clear about your criteria for weeding and emphasize that it is part of your staff’s expertise as collection managers and well within the scope of professional duties to determine whether or not a book warrants a place in the library’s collection. Having a part of your collection development policy dedicated to CREW/MUSTIE guidelines reminds your staff and your patrons that weeding is not an arbitrary process. Give an approximate timeline of how often or under what circumstances your staff will evaluate what’s in their collections.  
  • Professional determinations of sections – It is generally worthwhile to include the sections you have in your library (adult, children, teen, media, library of things, audiobooks, large print, etc.). It will also be worthwhile to note in writing that the sections are not limited to any particular age group and are arranged to help make library materials as easy to find as possible. The responsibility of material relevance lies with the individual, or with a caregiver for their own child(ren). The section in which an item resides is not designed to determine the audience for that item. If your library makes use of stickers to highlight genres or for other wayfinding purposes, you may want to mention this as well, noting that the sticker is a tool to help match relevant material with its reader and is not a restrictive guideline.  
  • Professional determinations of relevance – The professional review sources like those mentioned above give approximate age ranges that the materials are intended for. It is up to the professional librarians to determine relevance from there; relevance for the collection, relevance for the community and relevance for individuals who may be interested in the topic. Your collection development policy is a great opportunity to remind people of your training which makes these types of relevance determinations as a matter of course. You would likely not give Erik Larson’s Dead Wake to a 3rd grader doing a poster presentation on the Lusitania. You may, however, give an adult a fiction book whose audience is primarily teens because the book has all of the tropes, action, and/or themes that reader enjoys. You may also give a teen a picture book for a project because it has images that are captivating, rare, or may describe concepts in a way that can help describe a topic to other people, regardless of the teen’s mastery of the topic. The possibilities are endless, so I don’t recommend trying to get specific in your policy. It may be worth your while, however, to describe how books end up in certain sections to help patrons find materials and note that those sections may be browsed by anyone who finds the topic relevant.  
  • Inclusivity as a professional standard – Most collection development policies state that they strive to be representative of all people in their community. The broadness of this statement can feel all-encompassing or inclusive, but in reality, is vague enough to be difficult to define. Consider defining the communities, identities and groups you want to ensure are represented in your library. * This list does not have to be exhaustive; “including but not limited to” can be a powerful phrase. Specifically naming communities you know are marginalized or underrepresented demonstrates your commitment to ensuring representation in your collections and makes purposefully excluding those named communities against library policy. Highlighting and strengthening your commitment to vulnerable communities has an additional benefit of being solid ground for display themes. When you outline these specifics, know that you will be backed up by State Law Chapter 78, Section 33 which states that public library staff develop collections that reflect the breadth of human experience, which is both diverse and interconnected. There are several Massachusetts organizations which agree upon this principle. 

Community Input

Your library’s collection should reflect perspectives that you find in your community, perspectives that may broaden your community’s horizons, and be able to anticipate their needs. Consider having a method for community members to communicate to you items they would like to see in your collection outlined in your policy. It is an opportunity to find out what your community may be interested in. You are under no obligation to put every item that someone from the community suggests into the collection. Suggestions must still follow your collection development policy. Outlining those expectations directly in your policy allows your community members to voice their opinions while simultaneously setting boundaries that trained library professionals are the ones who make the final decisions on what the library puts on its shelves.  

Some additional questions to consider when thinking about community input include:  

  • What qualifies as a community member – A resident? A library card holder? Will you have a community member identify themselves as such?  
  • How will you address local authors in your policy?  
  • How will you address unsolicited donations, particularly those where patrons may expect to see those donations on-shelf?  
  • What timeline will you give for a response (if any) to any community collection request?  

* A last note about collection development policies is that they should always have some type of request for reconsideration as part of its policy. This is a hugely important step in protecting intellectual freedom for all, and as such, deserves its own blog post. I’ll break down some considerations to keep the process of a challenge as straightforward as possible in the next installment. 

 

Protecting You, Your Staff and Your Patrons

Welcome to the first in a series of posts designed to help you fortify your library to protect you, your staff, and your patrons. A library is at its strongest when there are clear, unambiguous expectations for everyone to follow and one of the best ways to implement these expectations is through policy.   

Good policies reduce ambiguity and create stability for you, your staff, and your patrons. Solid, consistently applied policies build a foundation of trust and accountability which goes a long way to keep the library from undue scrutiny. When you are a consistent, trustworthy institution (as we know libraries are) you can dispel appearances of bias or arbitrariness, making one hurdle towards support and funding easier to clear.  

Make Sure Your Library’s Policies are Thorough

Policy should be a primary focus of Trustee Boards and Library Directors, who should work together to create the strongest policies possible. The Director will inform the Board with the boots-on-the-ground input about library operations. The Board will offer an outside perspective, different skill sets, and, occasionally expertise (depending on what a Board member does for their day job) and ideally, implement a schedule for reviewing and updating the policies. Make sure your policies have been updated within the last 2 years. If you have a lot of policies that need updating, work together to put a schedule together and consider prioritizing these:  

  • Collection Development *including a request for reconsideration (RfR) process* 
  • Patron Behavior/ Patron Rights and Responsibilities/ Library Use
  • Programming (including a RfR) 
  • Crisis Communication (with scripts)
  • Meeting Room Use 
  • Circulation 
  • Social Media 

Guidelines for Establishing Library Policies

When you are looking through your policies, here are a few general guidelines to keep in mind that can apply to all of them:  

Think in terms of what you can allow
Libraries exist to provide access. A list of restrictions will never be comprehensive enough to cover all possible infractions and only serves to keep your library from being a welcoming space. Setting up expectations and boundaries go a long way to creating a mutual understanding of not just what cannot be done in your library, but what can be done there as well. 

Use plain, clear language
Your policy binder should be a regularly consulted, guiding force in your library. Be as clear and concise as you can so that frontline staff can easily refer to and explain your library’s policies to anyone using your library in a way that everyone can understand.  

Take advantage of your resources
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Many a solid policy has been made by taking the most relevant and useful pieces of policies from other libraries and putting them to use in your library. The Massachusetts Library System (MLS) has an extensive collection of library policies for you to use as a starting point. Take a look at other libraries in the state with similar populations, sizes or town governance for ideas as well. Never hesitate to reach out to the MBLC for assistance!   

Consistency is key
Exceptional customer service is a hallmark of standard library operations here in Massachusetts; staff get to know patrons and are able to tailor services accordingly. This should always be our priority, but we need to make sure that our policies are being applied consistently. Your newcomers or occasional users should have no less consideration than your frequent flyers. This is one consideration that can protect you and your staff the most. If you can’t apply your policy to every single person who walks through your doors, you need to revisit it. Otherwise, your policy won’t be able to withstand scrutiny and you, and your staff will lose the credibility and protections your policy is there to provide.  

Think of your staff
Will your staff be able to enforce all of the policies you’re updating? Do your boots-on-the-ground people feel the policies are reasonable? A bit of feedback, especially for policies that are new or heavily revised can go a long way to helping your staff be consistent when the polices are approved by the Board. 

Consider who you’re not reaching (yet)
Every library has groups of patrons that are underrepresented in the library’s services. If you are weaving in concepts of inclusion; taking into account different cultures, abilities and perspectives; working to ensure that all community types are welcome in your library directly into every policy, then your policies will be more accessible to everyone who comes through your doors. The more accessible they are, the easier they will be to understand, enforce and apply consistently. 

Have your drafted policies reviewed by an attorney
Most cities and towns have a solicitor they use for advice. Given that most MA libraries are town departments, you should avail yourself of their services for advice on your policies. An attorney comes with a knowledge of recent case law and what is enforceable. Your municipality should appreciate your efforts. Any initial investment in reviewing your policies will provide long-term protection and cost-savings for your municipality overall.  

Train Staff and Review Policies Regularly

As much as we would love it to be the case, policy is never a one-and-done situation. Make sure you’re devoting time to remind and train everyone on your staff throughout the year. Make sure there is a digital copy of the policy binder that all staff can access, give your policies dedicated space on your library’s website, and make sure there is at least one full, printed copy of the policy binder at every service point. (Bonus points if you have printed out extra copies of policies that may frequently come up, so your staff is ready to give a copy to patrons.)  

If a policy no longer works for you, you have the right to change it. You do not have to wait until the policy is up for its next review to make tweaks. If you or your staff are finding a policy difficult to follow or enforce, or if you are finding that a policy cannot be applied equitably for all library users, work in changes that make more sense and get the changes on your next Board agenda.  

Most people did not get their MLIS in hopes that they would be able to craft sound library policy one day. However, getting your policies in order will help you and your staff do the other important work of librarianship more confidently and with less stress. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the MBLC for assistance on policy considerations or helping Boards of Trustees get up to speed with needed policy changes.