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.
