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.
