By Dr. Steve Albrecht

When it comes to thefts in your library, not everything may be as it first seems. It's certainly possible the patron who put that DVD or book into his or her backpack and walked out the front door with it may have meant to check it out but just forgot. People can be distracted by the complexities and urgencies of life and these things happen. It's also certainly plausible the patron who actually steals a book from the library may really want to read it, just doesn't have the time or inclination to get a library card, and may even return the book when finished. It's useful to give patrons the benefit of the doubt that the vast majority want to do the right thing.

As a crime, stealing is all about intent. Did the person mean to do it or was it an accident due to forgetfulness? Consider a similar scenario: A female patron goes into your women's restroom and uses the facilities. She stops to wash her hands at the sink and takes an expensive watch off her wrist and puts it on the counter as she does so. She leaves the library and drives home. In her driveway, she realizes she no longer has the watch and calls the library in a panic as she races back over there. A staffer checks the restroom - no watch is on the sink counter. She arrives and checks the whole restroom for her watch, but it's gone. The patron says, "Call the police! I was robbed!"

Was she robbed? No. That would involve someone using "a weapon or force or fear," like pointing a gun at her, or grabbing her wrist to get her to remove her watch and hand it over. Did someone steal her watch through a distraction, by covering it with a jacket as she washed her hands and then lifted it away? No; she was alone. Did she lose her watch? Yes. Sad but true. She can call the police all she wants; they aren't coming for a lost item. Additionally, the difference between a theft and a robbery is an important one in the library setting. If someone walks by and takes a patron's cell phone without him or her noticing, that's a theft. If there is a tug of war between the patron and the thief, that's a robbery. Losing that same cell phone is neither.

So, now let's consider some useful ideas for preventing thefts of library equipment, staff personal items, or patron's items.

Protecting Library Property:

Affix engraved or riveted asset tags on all high-dollar (pawnable) items. These labels should say "Property of XYZ Library" and be attached to library property that has high theft potential, like laptops or desktops from the PC lab; video game consoles; flatscreen TVs; tablets; or projectors. The presence of these tags, which should be hard for the thieves to remove, can help make these items less likely to be purchased by (legitimate) pawnshop dealers. There is a similar parallel in the automotive industry, as some parts dealers, car dealers, and repair shops are engraving expensive catalytic converters with "Property of [Owner's Name]," to make them less likely to be stolen and harder to sell to (legitimate) metal recyclers.

Continue to use cables and locks for all portable high-dollar electronics. Some libraries start out using these "anti-walk-away" devices and slowly stop, as staffers get tired of locking and unlocking them. This is an example of "not trading security for convenience," meaning keep on using security procedures and devices, even if there has never been a theft or loss. Once we start to feel like security tools are a waste of time, well, you can guess what occurs next: "What happened to our 36 laptops?"

Remind all staff to keep unused doors locked, including those leading to storage closets, utility rooms, IT server rooms, training rooms, conference rooms, staff-only rooms and offices, auditoriums, theaters, and warehouse-access areas. A thief who gains entry to an unlocked room only needs 30 seconds to walk in and out with a portable/pawnable target.

Always remember that thieves in the library don't fit a "profile." They could be any race, any age, and any gender. I have seen kids as small as 7 steal and adults as old as 85, male and female both. Don't be shy about assertively contacting patrons who appear to be stealing or getting ready to steal, if your eyes saw what they saw. Don't make false accusations, but don't rationalize theft behavior by thinking, "She must not have meant to do that" or "He probably did that by mistake."

Protecting Staff Property:

Remind all staff to keep careful track of their personal property while on the library floor. This includes their personal cellphones, car keys, purses, wallets, lunch boxes, or any other enticing item which is with them or near them (and not safely stored in the employee's locker, desk drawers, or staff-only access areas).

Remind all staff to keep track of portable library property, including (metal) building keys, key cards, library-issued cellphones, security radios, first aid kits (which may have Narcan injectors inside), and the above-mentioned electronic devices.

Helping Patrons Protect Their Property:

Many patrons place too much reliance on staff to babysit their stuff. Just like staff cannot watch patron's children at all times for them, they cannot babysit their personal possession either. We need to give gentle but constant reminders to patrons, to tell them to take their purses, backpacks, wallets, watches, or phones with them when they leave their tables. How many times have we heard the surprised complaint after a theft that, "I was just gone for a minute!" or "I only turned around for a second and it was gone!"

Watching for Thieves:

Some thieves steal to support a drug habit, others to feed themselves or their families, some steal on orders from their gang leaders, and still a small segment steal because they have a psychological compulsion to do so, even though they don't need the items to sell or to improve their lifestyles. Unlike professional thieves, who steal a warehouse full of iMacs or a semi-truck full of Sony Visios in the wee hours, most thieves in the library show noticeable pre-theft or "casing" behaviors as they stroll through your facility.

The most obvious pre-theft behavior is also not the best for a thief to do to get away unobserved: staring at what he or she wants to steal. They will often make at least two passes by a table, desk, display cabinet, or counter before they grab the item and either run out with it or hide it in their clothes or bag. Either while they are casing or just before they put their hands on it, is the perfect time for you to say, "Hello! What brings you into the library today?" or "What can I help you find today?" to knock them off their path from ideas to actions. You might be just in time to hear them mumble, "Oh, nothing, I'm good. See ya . . . " as they leave the library empty-handed.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

You’ve heard of “New Math?” How about “New Meth”?

Word on the street is that there is a new menace, a more powerful (and even cheaper version) of meth, that is chemically different than the previous meth. It's cheaper and more prevalent than cocaine, and it is the drug of choice of many people living on the streets in squalor, because it makes them feel energized (as opposed to depressed), hyper-aware, hyper-vigilant, and in control of their current situation because all of their neurons are on fire.

This newer version of powdered methamphetamine is either smoked or snorted and can make users unpredictable, confrontational, and all-too-often violent. All library staffers need to recognize the warning signs of what Emergency Room physicians call "meth psychosis." This is a set of irrational and intense behaviors that many chronic meth users will display.

The information about this new type of meth comes from my drug abuse training colleague, Keith Graves, a retired narcotics detective and patrol sergeant from a Northern California police department. Keith holds a unique training certification; he's known as a DRE or a Drug Recognition Expert. He was the Drug Investigator of the Year for the California Narcotics Officers Association (where I'm also a member), so he knows his stuff.

Here are some quotes from a recent blog Keith wrote on his website (www.gravesassociates.com) about the disturbing differences between new meth and old meth.

"You can't even call this methamphetamine anymore. The methamphetamine of today is made differently than it was just a few short years ago. With this change in manufacturing, there was a huge change in the way users reacted to this new meth and now methamphetamine is a major factor in police [contacts]. Simply put, methamphetamine is causing psychosis that is leading to paranoid behavior that leads to deadly interactions with law enforcement. Police [contacts] and methamphetamine go hand in hand. Methamphetamine addicts are often paranoid, suffering from meth psychosis, and can become extremely violent. This makes them a danger to both themselves and to the police officers who are trying to help them. Many times, when police officers are called to a scene where someone is high on methamphetamine, they are met with violence."

Let's begin with a description of what is out on the streets today, by hearing more from Keith:

"Methamphetamine is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant that can be smoked, snorted, or injected. Methamphetamine is now considered a serious public health threat due to its increased popularity and severe reactions to users. The drug is made in illegal labs in Mexico and then transported across the Mexico/US border. Methamphetamine is very potent and can be very addictive. In years past, methamphetamine was made with pseudoephedrine. To stop the manufacture of methamphetamine in the United States, the federal government clamped down on pseudoephedrine by restricting its sale. In a few short years, meth labs all but ceased to exist in the United States.

"However, Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (Cartels) started to make methamphetamine using phenyl-2-propanone ("P2P"). This is an old-school method of making meth taken from the 1980s. Unfortunately for meth users, this "new" P2P manufacturing method was causing severe psychosis in meth users. When people are high on methamphetamine, they can be very aggressive and violent. They may also act impulsively and make poor decisions, which can lead to dangerous situations. This psychosis is often called meth psychosis. 

"This a mental health condition that can occur when someone uses methamphetamine. It is a type of psychosis, which is a mental health condition in which people have distorted thoughts and perceptions. People with methamphetamine psychosis may experience hallucinations, which are seeing things that are not real. They may also have a heightened sense of awareness and feel like they are in a state of constant danger. When people are high on methamphetamine, they can be very aggressive and violent. They may also act impulsively and make poor decisions, which can lead to dangerous situations."

Here are Keith's suggestions as to how to safely talk to suspected meth users in your library:

"When you encounter someone that is experiencing meth psychosis, keep a social distance from them. Basically, a 7-to-10- foot radius. You should also not deal with a person experiencing meth psychosis by yourself." [Albrecht: As I have said on many of my training programs, change the "ratio of confrontation," by getting help from a co-worker, boss, or security officer - if your library is staffed with them. I hope it's obvious to all library employees, by this point, that if you think you need to call the police to get them to better deal with a meth user who is out of control, then call the police.]

"Talk to the person in a calm and soft voice. A meth user hears sounds at a fast pace and a high pitch. A side effect of a meth high is a constant buzzing sound in the background. Keep them talking. Silence can mean that the suspect's paranoid thoughts have taken over and anyone in the area can become part of the suspect's paranoid delusions.” [Albrecht: As I always say in my library trainings with any patron who is not in emotional self-control, stop saying, "Calm down!" to people who cannot calm themselves.]

”Move in a deliberate manner. This will lessen the chances that the person will misinterpret your actions. Keep your hands in sight. Because of the paranoia, your hands should be visible to the person. If your hands are not visible, the person might feel threatened and become violent."

Taken to an extreme, meth users can give themselves permanent brain injuries (and damage their eyes to where their pupils no longer open and close normally). They can develop schizophrenic tendencies, which can make them hard to manage and treat, even in a hospital setting. Meth is a bad-news drug and always has been. This new stuff is even worse.

My thanks to Keith Graves for his knowledge and safety suggestions.

Training Sidebar:

One way to help you more accurately identify meth users in your library is to remember that every day is "MOTHERS" Day.

• Mouth - Users can show a white, slimy coating around their lips and on their tongues. The drug causes their mucus membranes to work harder.
• Odor - Users can give off a chemical smell, mixed with dried sweat. Regular bathing and careful hygiene are not high on their to-do list. Imagine how you would smell if you stayed up for three nights, sweating, running around your neighborhood, and getting involved with other people, usually in an aggressive, intrusive, and impolite way, all while wearing your same clothes.
• Twitching - Users shift from foot to foot, touch things around them, and cannot stand still for even a short moment. They may constantly pick at or adjust their hair or clothing, twitch their hands, head, and shoulders, and generally act like someone who cannot control their movements (because they can't control their movements).
• Head - Users will have their heads on a constant swivel, mostly because since their nerves and senses are heightened abnormally, they are quite sensitive to background noises, loud inside sounds, and even distant outside sounds. It's not unusual to see meth users started by the sound of a passenger jet flying by.
• Eyes - Normal pupils, in regular room light, typically have a diameter of 3 mm to 6.5 mm. People whose pupils are dilated by stimulant drugs, like cocaine and meth, will have eyes that look like dinner plates (10 or 11 mm). The difference is not subtle. (Google the phrase "meth eyes" for many examples of "blown out" pupils.)
• Rapid Pulse - While we aren't taking the pulse rates of any of our patrons (even if they ask), we can know that the pulse rate of a meth user is often 100 to 140 beats per minute, far above the normal 60 to 90 bpm range most of us have.
• Speech (Rapid) - Users will use rapid, disconnected, erratic speech, often with themes of paranoia, hypervigilance, and their sense that someone (the police, the government) is "out to get them" and they need to fight back or flee. (Think of the phrase "word salad" when you're in contact with suspected meth users.)

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

In my earliest days watching library staff interact with patrons, I was always amazed at the power of those elderly female staffers, who I affectionately called the “Little Old Lady Librarians” or LOLs, for short. They just had an obvious knack for taking care of large and small behavioral issues with certain patrons. Why? If I had to guess, it was because even the most difficult, challenging, entitled, or rude patrons suddenly complied because the LOLs reminded them of their mom, grandma, auntie, or other older female relative who told them how to act, at home and out in public.

I had several encounters working as a library security consultant where staff would ask me to help them intervene with a particularly difficult patron, with mental health issues, who was angry, and under the influence of something. I asked this person to leave and he cursed me out. But when the LOL asked him to leave, he said, “Yes ma’am. Sorry to have been a problem” and he left. This happened more than once, with different patrons, and I was always pleased and amazed at their fortitude when dealing with patrons who wouldn’t comply for me or other staffers, but yet did, for them, every time.

Perhaps my usual demeanor was to blame for the challenging patrons’ replies back to me. I’m not a smiler by nature (bad teeth as a kid, all caps now) and my personality tends towards the direct command or abrupt request, especially when I’m stressed or tired. My approach with certain angry people has ranged from grudging compliance all the way to a challenge to fight. By contrast, the LOLs are always firm but pleasant, something their many years of life experience and skill in dealing with all kinds of people, in the many jobs they have held, certainly helps them. No civilized human beings want to put their hands on a LOL, no matter how many life problems they are carrying around. They see a compassionate person in front of them - who reminds them of someone older and kindly in their lives, either vaguely or quite directly, and because of this mostly positive influence - they go along with her requests.

The Little Old Lady Librarian could be described as a trope, a cliche, or a stereotype, but regardless of what we call her, her methods work with patrons who may not comply with other staffers or even when asked by library leaders. I have met LOLs who were part-timers, volunteers, longtime library workers, and even directors. They all shared the same tool: they have the “right touch” when it comes to getting recalcitrant patrons to go along or leave. They can align themselves with those patrons by being compassionate and assertive.

I speak of the concept of alignment often in my live training programs and recorded webinars. As a service and security tool, it suggests we get patrons to go along by being more like them. Maybe alignment is based on age, race, gender, or simply the style of dress matches the speaker and listener (or what body language experts call “mirroring”). There are many reasons why human beings align - or affiliate, as the social psychologists like to say - because most people want to be like others. The LOL asks them to stop doing something or leave and because of her non-threatening, non-authoritative demeanor, they can comply and save face in front of her, especially in public and in front of other strangers.

What skills can we learn from LOLs? They:

• Have a firm but fair hand.
• Provide equal treatment of all who follow or don’t follow our rules in the library.
• Are skilled at empathic listening.
• Offer a no-nonsense but also a kindly demeanor.
• Display a non-aggressive posture, coupled with an assertive request for compliance.

I’ll put it this way: If you have ever worked with or for or around a LOL in your library, you probably have more than one story that proves my point, where she rode to the rescue and saved the situation. LOLs are a treasured part of the library staff. Learn from yours.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

Real life rarely imitates the training experience. Except when it does. There is much value to "practice makes perfect" and "perfect practice makes for perfect execution." In other words, what we do in training we can remember and use on the library floor.

One way and one place to get it right is by using role-play scenarios, for about 45 minutes or so, at staff meetings, to practice what to say and how to say it, for more challenging, complex conversations and service interactions with patrons. One employee plays the part of the staffer and another plays the part of the patron. They each can add their own approach (and twists and turns) to the following 12 scenarios here, with an eye toward improving, problem-solving, and perhaps most importantly, by creating a common response that is used staff-wide, in similar situations, so we show a consistency of message.

The role-plays should only take about five minutes. At the end, the group can give both role-players some feedback as to what they heard and saw (body language is a big part of our success with challenging patrons too) and what they liked and what they might say or do differently. The goal is to be supportive and informative for all in the room.

When I turn my live training library groups loose on these role-plays, I give them the obvious caveat that it's always easier to play the part of the patron, because you can go off in a dozen different directions (some that have little to do with the foundation of the role-play scenario but are just fun to be a bit wacky). All the while the patron is spinning, the employee is trying to listen empathically, come up with what seems like the best answers, stay within policy, follow the Code of Conduct, and provide good service.

I always tell my training groups to go easy on their co-workers and start to come around and comply once they realize the employee is using good de-escalation skills, customer service skills, and communications skills. No sense in beating up on a colleague who is trying his or her best. The group feedback should be supportive and forgiving. These scenarios are tough because there are no perfect answers, ideal solutions, or flawless words to use. Your best efforts may be thwarted by an eccentric, rude, stubborn, indifferent, or angry patron, who also happens to have poor listening skills, either in general or because of the situation in particular.

These 12 scenarios have come to me from library employees over the years. After 21 years as a library security consultant, I can make up my own, certainly, but I like getting these scenarios from staffers who have had to deal with them. Get to work on these at your next staff meeting and see what answers you can develop for your team.

1. A patron is using the Internet and soon goes over his one-hour time limit. Other patrons are lining up at your desk to use the Internet too. One patron says to you, "Hey! I'm next and he's hogging the computer. I need to get online now! Either you do something about him or I will!"
2. An adult comes to your desk and it's clear she's very angry. She's accompanied by her 13-year-old son. She says, "Yesterday, one of you people told my boy he had to leave because he was making too much noise. I want somebody to tell me why he was told this and I want to speak to the one who made him go!" (Yesterday was your day off and the employee in question is off today.)
3. An elderly gentleman is at the circulation desk trying to check out two DVDs. His borrowing privilege has been revoked due to overdue notices, big fines, and missing items that were never returned. He says to you, "You're just picking on me because I'm old! I know my rights! You have to let me have this stuff!"
4. During a summertime field trip sponsored by the local Day Camp, you see several children riding on the book carts, jumping on the tables, and pounding the computer keyboards. You approach the camp counselor, who tells you, in a defensive way, "What's the big deal? They're just letting off a little steam. Weren't you ever young once?"
5. Two teenage couples are in the library near closing time. It's clear from their physical behavior that each is highly interested in their dates. Both couples are making out quite visibly and other patrons are embarrassed. One of the boys stops his activity and says to you, "What are you looking at?" The other boy joins in and taunts you with the same question.
6. An older woman approaches you to complain about noise being made by several middle school students. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet places. What's wrong with parents these days? Those kids should be kicked out! What are you going to do about this?" You've been busy with another patron and haven't heard any more noise coming from the students than other adult users.
7. A man in his late 50s who frequents the Genealogy area almost daily is now seen with a young boy of about 10, playing video games on the man's laptop computer. It's clear they don't know each other too well. The man and the boy have both been seen in the library before but never together. Today, it looks like they're leaving together. You approach the man and he says, "Go away! My new friend and I are doing fine without your help."
8. Every Friday when the Library closes, a nine-year-old girl is out in front of the Library waiting for a ride. As the Person In Charge, you ask her if someone is coming for her; she tells you her mom was supposed to pick her up before closing time. She appears mature enough to take care of herself, but still has that look of unease. It's already 10 minutes past closing and other staff want to go home and get on with their evening plans.
9. A middle-aged man likes to dominate all conversations in the library. His voice is loud and other staff and patrons seem rattled or offended by his language and mannerisms. He comes into the library about once per week but doesn't seem to remember how to use the Internet, so he makes a lot of demands for staff time to explain the simplest things to him, over and over again. Staff are not sure if this is real or he is messing with them.
10. A big burly guy comes into the library and seems very intimidating. He always wants to use the exact same Internet computer each time and he gets visibly upset when another patron is using "his computer." He has confronted people who get too close to him or who ask when he will be done using the computer. Staff are afraid to speak with him because he seems angry, suspicious, and even a bit paranoid.
11. A first-grader comes in every Saturday morning with her grandmother for children's reading hour. The child seems happy playing with other kids but appears fearful of her grandmother. When it's time to leave, the child cries and doesn't want to go. The grandmother gets angry and pulls her roughly out the door.
12. A 30-year-old man who is developmentally disabled spends all his time on the Internet. He needs to be reminded of the Internet usage rules and not to make fun of other people or to stare at young women in the library. He gets dropped off by his caregiver, who rarely stays very long with him once he's inside. The female staff feels uncomfortable around him, because he stares at them, although he has never said or done anything inappropriate toward them.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

The scope of the criminal gang problem in this country is hard to measure accurately. We know from FBI, Department of Justice, and state and local police statistics that there are around 33,000 known gangs, with over 1 million active members. This includes people engaged in "criminal activity, using a gang name, insignia, colors, hand signs, initiation rites, a code of conduct, and other forms of affiliation that show an organized approach to their illegal activities." Examples include street or prison gangs, most often organized by race; motorcycle gangs; white supremacy gangs; or the more well-known organized crime gangs, like the Italian Mafia seen in the movies, but also consisting of multinational gang members from hundreds of countries around the world.

When it comes to street gangs, most of their activities center around drug sales; extorting "street tax" money from other gangs and business owners; burglarizing homes or businesses; robbing people or businesses; stealing cars; stealing large amounts of retail goods; protecting their territory/turf; and using retaliatory violence against each other. We see near-daily stories about drive-by shootings that leave ordinary innocent people, or their kids, dead from getting caught in the crossfire. In other words, you do not want a street gang to occupy your library. And yet, it happens.

Many gangs use a "rings of membership" model to signify who does what, based on their status. The "OGs" or "Original Gangsters" are either the founders or related to the past founders of the gang; some can range from 30 to 50 to even 70 years old. The "Shotcallers" are often the ones who organize most of the activities and keep the peace inside the gang. They report to the OGs. The "Prospects" are prospective members of the gang, who are trying to earn their way into full membership - through selling drugs, stealing, and harming rival gang members (or the responding police). The "Wannabes" are young people who may not ever rise to the level of full membership, but hang around the gang for status, protection, and support. Some gang members allow females as full members, but this is rare, and many young women never go past "Wannabe" status, even though they engage in just as many dangerous, illegal activities as the male full members. (Females often carry guns, drugs, and money for other gang members, knowing that the police are much less likely to search them.)

Some gang members may go to the library for the simple reason that they are in middle school or high school and need to do their homework. Some gang members attend school and graduate and go on to college. This path to an education makes it easier for them to leave the gang life, which as you can imagine, is not as easy as quitting a job at a local fast-food restaurant and walking away. (The phrase, "Blood In-Blood Out," signifies their usual entry and exit from the gang.)

More likely, gang members will meet at the library because it is perceived as a safe place, or is "neutral territory," a building in between gang neighborhood jurisdictional lines. Most often, gang members see the library as an easy place they can steal from; mark, tag, paint, etch, or scratch their gang name, street nicknames, colors, or monikers into the walls, restrooms, or into materials; sell drugs; recruit new members; or intimidate other kids or adults. Their usual interactions with library staff can range from neutral to polite, to harassing and threatening. (I worked on a threat assessment case in Los Angeles, where a female library employee was dropped off for work each day at the facility by her brother, a longtime prison gang member. He was shot and wounded by a rival gang, in front of the library, two separate times. She was a good person; he had some issues. Not an easy case to manage.)

Let's acknowledge that six kids sitting together is not a gang. But as quoted here by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website, these are the warning signs for possible gang interest, activity, recruitment, exploitation, and potential membership. Library leaders and staffers should pay attention to these warning signs and potentially problematic behaviors in children, students, and young adults they see in their facilities:

"There are many signs that parents and guardians can use to tell if a child may be involved in gang activity. These include:

• Having unexplained money, expensive new items, or clothing.
• Wearing clothing of all one type, style, or color, or changing appearance with special haircuts, tattoos or other body markings.
• Using of hand signs, special slang or words with hidden messages, or having gang graffiti on walls or personal items.
• Associating with known gang members.
• Withdrawing from family, not obeying curfews, changing or worsening attitude with adults and peers.
• Using or possessing drugs.
• Carrying weapons."

Your first step, should you have fears and concerns about gang activity in your library, should be to set an in-person meeting with your local police or sheriff's department, preferably with an officer or deputy who has beat responsibility for your area; a School Resource Officer (SRO) from a nearby campus; or a detective with the Gang Unit. Explain the situation you're seeing and ask for their advice.

You may be able to get immediate (better) help and support from a local gang prevention social services agency. Most of these groups are founded and run by former hardcore gang members, who have made it their mission for the rest of their lives to promote an anti-gang message to the kids and young adults they encounter, especially those who are in the "Prospect" or "Wannabe" stage of involvement. These men can speak the language of the streets on your behalf, and talk to current or possible gang members about staying away from the library. Their guidance and wisdom for these types of interventions far exceed what the police could do. Seek them out.

Second, immediately remove any library materials that have been marked with gang signs. Have the janitorial, maintenance, Public Works, or Facilities staff paint over or repair parts of the library that have been marked. The reason is simple: tagging, left unremoved or unrepaired, just encourages more of the same. Worse yet, rival gangs will come into the library to paint, pen, or scratch over the first gang's marks. This type of escalating behavior among them often leads to retaliation violence.

(Best to do all repairs before or after business hours, so no one connected to the gang sees this activity being done. To them, painting over their gang marks is akin to painting over the Mona Lisa. The fact that they don't take kindly to it shouldn't stop you; just be discreet when making all repairs.)

Gang members are hypersensitive to being embarrassed or slighted, especially in front of their peers, their rivals, or their girlfriends. Be careful not to disrespect a male or female of any age, that you suspect may be a gang member or otherwise affiliated with a gang. They have long memories of any encounter where they felt talked down to or were treated in a dismissive or condescending manner. You can still be firm, fair, consistent, and reasonable as you apply library policy or your Code of Conduct, just keep your tone and body language neutral and professional. Choosing the right staff member or library supervisor to say what needs to be said can help a lot too.

I have heard some library directors use the bold step of having the police issue gang members a trespass warning or even getting a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against a group of known (or what are called "documented") gang members. This step is not without its real perils. Talk to the police in detail before you go in this direction, as it is an all-in, go-nuclear decision. (These people are not great rule-followers and don't like being told what to do or where to do it.)

Last, your highest-risk activity, in terms of solving the problem of gang activity in your library, would be to meet with the teenagers or adults you see or can determine are the leaders. I have seen this work in high-stress situations (one of my colleagues, who was the Security Chief for the Washington DC school system, did it safely and it led to a successful "peace treaty" between several school campuses and the gangs). The right person from the library is the key to this being a successful, useful, safe meeting. Explain your expectations, carefully, without threats, and ask for their help to get their crew to leave for good or comply with library rules.

Gangs have infiltrated every state, most cities, and even many small towns. Pay attention to what you see and get help to address it, safely and early.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

One way to think about how to be a better library leader is to think about who was a good leader for you. A useful exercise in improving your leadership skills--especially in the area of being firm, fair, consistent, assertive, and reasonable--is to take a pen and a pad and make a list of the traits, behaviors, characteristics, and even eccentricities of the best bosses you ever worked for.

And don’t just consider your previous library bosses for this list; go back through every job you ever held and consider how you were treated, led, taught, praised, disciplined, and communicated to by your direct supervisors. Some current bosses say that their best boss was their first boss, or their best experience was in a fast-food job, or while working for a family-owned business, or that their best boss was their first library boss.

Of course, this list is not complete until you consider the dark side. If one side of your page contains what was so good about certain bosses, the other side must describe the truly horrible bosses you worked for, and how you survived their alleged leadership skills.

When I use this "Best Boss-Worst Boss" exercise in the basic HR/supervision classes I teach, I get quite a range of interesting replies. On the Best Boss list, the participants write traits like: great listener, mentored me, treated everyone fairly, used lots of praise, kept the group informed about issues, went to bat for us with senior management, gave out assignments fairly, taught me how to do my job better, gave me the freedom to learn and make mistakes, caught me doing things right, and was always available but didn’t micromanage me.

On the Worst Boss list, I often see comments like: alcoholic, liar, screamer, slept at his desk, stole money from me, timed my bathroom breaks, took credit for my ideas, couldn’t or didn’t want to communicate, was never satisfied with my work, never praised me or anyone else, never taught me anything, seemed bothered when I asked questions, didn’t make eye contact with me, threw us all down and blamed us in front of senior management, gone all the time, micromanaged me.

If you look at your list side by side, you can say that many of the Best Boss characteristics are the opposite of the Worst Boss characteristics, and vice-versa. The context of these work situations is a part of the comparison as well. What some employees think of as a "micromanager" might simply be a boss that sets the performance and behavior bars high and demands results. What some employees label "bosses as missing managers" might simply mean that they gave every employee the freedom to do their jobs without too much unnecessary over-the-shoulder scrutiny, thereby expressing confidence in their people.

As you consider the items on your "Best Boss – Worst Boss" list, ask yourself these questions: “Do my employees ever make their own lists? Do they compare me to the best boss or the worst boss they ever had in their careers? Do they talk with each other about my leadership style?” The answers are: yes, yes, and only on days that end in the letter “y.”

This list-making process can be eye-opening. What are the traits and behaviors you need to do more of and which ones should you stop doing? What are the things that the best bosses in your career did that you want to emulate and which ones from the worst bosses do you want to avoid? When it comes to supervising, leading, and disciplining your people in the library environment, which list do you want to end up on?

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

The American Management Association is the oldest training company in the US. It was founded in 1926 and has trained over 10 million people. Of the 160 business seminars it offers, for business owners, leaders, managers, and first-line supervisors, the most popular learning program is a two-day workshop called "Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers." 

This program is not popular because it's the easiest to attend or the shortest (others don't require nightly homework like it does and are usually three or four days in length). It's popular because it's the most necessary training for business success for current and future leaders. To help you promote in your career as a library leader, you must be able to "speak the language of business," which is about understanding budgets, monitoring spending, understanding payroll costs for existing or future staffing levels, controlling costs, allocating assets, counting inventory, and knowing how to read and interpret the often interrelated financial reports.

As a library employee wanting to move into a supervisory, management, or leadership role, it's critical for your success to acquire a knowledge of basic financial statements; understand the "Accrual Process," the "Accounting Equation," and what "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles" means; understand liquidity, leverage, and profitability through understanding cash flow; calculate fixed, variable, overhead costs, and a break-even analysis; be able to read, interpret, and explain a Balance Sheet and Income Statement; understand operating and capital expenditure budgets; understand employee and payroll tax reporting requirements; and know how and why to measure the Return on Investment for departments, projects, and strategic plans. 

And speaking of budgets and their importance, I contacted my (far wiser) colleagues for their advice on getting a better handle on public agency budgets:

"Get in good with your Finance Director and get some simple explanations of how your particular library's budget process works. Get their help to move money around if you've over/under spent in certain areas."

__________

"Budgets offer an opportunity to set goals for the organization with a spending plan. The budget is a guide. It doesn't mean there won't be exceptions. It has to be realistic from the beginning, i.e., because you want to spend $xxx, you can't just say revenue is going to be $xxx. It's a tool to help management understand both the revenues stream(s) and expenses of the organization, and which expenses are fixed and which are variable."

_______

"When we think of budgets or budgeting for work, we often think we must have some sort of financial background or that the `finance person' will or should be the one to set and monitor the budget. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Managers and supervisors need to know how to establish, use, and defend their budgets. Begin with the end in mind. I still love this phrase from Steven Covey and it applies to budgets: '1) Know where you want to go, 2) What you need to accomplish and 3) How much it will take to get you there.' In other words, a budget is that road map that you set in the beginning with the end in mind. Knowing this information, keeps your program running and your staff employed."

_______

"Understanding funding sources. It's likely the majority of funding comes from General Fund sources (versus Revenues) and therefore is subject to the approval of Public Officials (usually the City Manager or County Administrator, then the Mayor and Council). Does your city or county have a one-year or two-year budgeting process? There is not any latitude to change funding allocations throughout the budgeting cycle unless you're able to reallocate within your approved budget, so you have to anticipate needs. Think strategically and long-term. Big items like Capital Improvement projects must be planned for many years out. Foundation support (like the Friends of Library) is where special projects and discretion may provide additional funding to get non-budgeted items. Maintaining public support and having advocates who will fundraise from a non-profit perspective and people to write letters or speak at public comment during budget hearings can 'save' or raise the importance of library initiatives as a City Manager or County Administrator tries to balance the needs of all City or County departments. It's important for them to share the reality of the public budgeting process to encourage staff to be fiscally prudent. The majority of a budget will go to personnel-related expenses so there is little discretion 'to find extra money to spend.' Salary savings from open positions are usually available for departments to spend, depending on the spending philosophy of the City Manager or County Administrator."

_______

"Know your library's part of the overall budget expectation. How did the budget pan out for last year? On the nose, under, or over? How are budgets determined? Do you have a say in your budget needs? How is the budget matched to the department's needs? Once you determine your department needs have you involved your team in finding ways to improve the department? Once you've empowered the team to help drive the department goals, you can look for innovative ways to close the gaps. You can determine the costs of improvements and team investments and forecast by monthly milestones. Measure the team's success in milestones and forecasts and reassess and adjust by mentoring your team. The real key is to know the mission, assess the team's ability to get ahead of the mission, and determine the investment needed for team growth within the department's role in the overall mission. Success comes from the innovation of empowered employees that feel valued in the organization's mission."

_______

"Budgeting helps to track (and control) actual expenses and future expenses as well. Set a budget based upon fixed costs and revenue (income). Do it for each month, anticipating additional expenditures over and above fixed costs. Control your discretionary spending and live within your budget limits. Make staff additions with the budget in mind."

_______

"Budgets are a forecast and recognize that many expenses are variable and as such a function of revenue. Use the budget as a benchmark to measure variations from the forecast and expose potential problems. If revenues exceed the budget, then your variable expenses should follow suit. If revenues drop, variable expenses should drop also. Non-profits like libraries require budgets to provide blanket board approval for expenditures by the management. While we may also use the budget to benchmark performance, we're primarily using it as a preauthorization to spend funds within the limits of the budget. Budgets should be built around staffing requirements (how many people, of what job description/pay rate are required for each shift). Include adding hours to accommodate an unanticipated peak period or subtract hours during less peak hours. Another rookie mistake: accidental overtime. Overtime results in premium pay (1.5 to 2x the original rate of pay). Similarly, if breaks or lunches aren't taken on time, then premiums or penalties must be paid. All of these things create the potential to overspend the budget. Tight control of the  breaks and lunches, and careful scheduling can help avoid these penalties and premiums."

There are lots of approaches to improving your financial literacy, using either online courses from training companies that specialize in one-day or multi-day seminars; local or online college and university classes, extension courses, or certificate programs; or through self-study programs offered by financial education non-profits or associations. Ask for mentoring from the financial professionals in your library, city, or county. Get directions, a lesson plan, and supportive career guidance from your Chief Financial Officer, Finance Director, Finance Manager, Budget Director, or similar experts. They recognize the value of the data they create and interpret; they will want you to appreciate it just as much.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

You may have seen the police come into your library, or have responded from their desk inside the library, and have not been pleased with their methods. It's also possible that you have seen the police respond to incidents, ranging from a serious, life-threatening situation to a low-risk call for their services, and have been happy with the results. As a taxpayer and an employee, you have every right to question the methods of how police do their work. Are they being fair, legal, ethical, safe? Are they treating people who are out of control with empathy, and not taking things personally? Do they make arrests with the least amount of force necessary, to keep the arrestee, themselves, and the public on the scene, as safe as possible? The old saying, "No one hates a bad cop more than a good cop," has never been more relevant than today.

Most people get what they know about cops and their methods from TV shows and movies - which are not always the most historically accurate resources, to be sure. Perhaps it would help your understanding of how the police function, both in your library and in your community, by getting a better sense of their work culture?   

Every profession has a collection of behaviors that contribute to its workplace culture. Some of these are learned by new employees as they start the job, just by what they observe. Others are taught to new employees by longtime employees, who say, "Here's how we really get things done around here." Some workplace cultural norms are defined in the policies and procedures manual; others are expressly trained to all employees by the leadership team (or through the company or agency lawyers). 

Some workplace cultural traditions are deeply ingrained, going back decades, to when the business or profession was first founded. (Librarians know why a barber pole sign outside the barbershop has red stripes.) 

Some workplace traditions weren't illegal or highly inappropriate "back in the day," but they certainly are now. This includes pranks, hazing, bullying, sabotaging someone's work, sexually or racially-themed attacks, or trying to drive certain people (most often women and minority applicants or employees out of their jobs).

All five military service agencies (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines) have long-standing traditions. (The Space Force is too new to have any.) Some of these come with rituals, rites, and elaborate ceremonies. (Your Homework Assignment: Ask any current or former Navy sailor what event took place when he or she crossed the Equator at sea for the first time.)       

Bankers have a workplace culture, as do truck drivers, airline pilots, lawyers, hairstylists, and even librarians. They all use jargon, slang, and coded language unique to their professions, as a way of communicating quickly and effectively amongst each other.

Now imagine that your work culture told you from Day One on the job, that, "You could be killed while trying to protect the people you serve. Cops die in spectacularly bad ways, every day, mostly in shootings and car crashes. By the way, welcome to the Police Academy." This is what happens, even today. Besides a military basic training/boot camp experience, I can think of no other profession that indoctrinates its new members this way. Officers and deputies are taught constantly to think about “Officer Survival” and that “Hands Kill” on every call they go on or every stop they make. 

Consider how that influences their interactions with people, most of whom are not posing a threat to them. "Because of our uniforms and badges, everyone already knows who we are and why we are there. We usually know almost nothing about the people we encounter while doing this job." This creates a mindset that affects how they work.

On that happy note, consider this list of factors that make up the police culture:

• It's a calling, not just a career or a job.
• A male-based work environment; women have to work much harder to be accepted.
• Some hazing of probationary employees. (Much more happens in the fire department culture.)
• Paramilitary structure, with military-influenced job titles.
• Pride, bordering on arrogance, about their chosen career.
• Fearful of losing face in front of the public, which leads to the need for constant fear control at scenes.
• 24-hour business means a 24-hour lifestyle (work, sleep, go back to work, respond to calls, discuss work, repeat). 
• Highly-specialized career; highly-screened applicants; takes a long time to get hired; lengthy Academy and first-year probationary employee training process.
• Alcohol-centered culture.
• High suicide rate. (More cops kill themselves each year - 160 to 180 - than are killed in the line of duty - 125 to 150.) 
• "Five-year disease" by new employees who get too salty, too soon.
• Injuries are a part of the job.
• Potential to witness death or be killed on the job, or see co-workers injured or killed.
• Close friendships and work relationships, that can last for life.
• Lone Wolf workers; much of their work takes place alone.
• Peer support, unless you make an unforgivable tactical mistake.
• Wary of senior leadership. Everyone above the rank of Lieutenant no longer remembers what it's like to do "real police work."
• Distrust of the need for getting clinical help, and most clinicians, for depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, or marriage counseling.  
• Need to "pay your dues first" before you can act like a veteran.
• More community suspicion and fear, when compared to firefighters, who are usually much more beloved.

None of the above ever excuses the behavior of unprofessional, rude, dismissive, poorly trained, or dangerous officers who arrive at your library. If you're not getting good service from them at your library, it's time to call the Watch Commander and have a conversation about what happened and how it needs to be better. 

But, if you are truly empathic about the needs of your patrons, can you also be just as empathic toward the police officers or sheriff's deputies who come to your library, with the primary intent of protecting (themselves and you) and serving (you and the patrons)? A little understanding of how their culture orients their worldview can help you understand why they do what they do.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

As a longtime HR trainer (uh, that would be me) once said in a daylong team-building training program, “When it comes to your bosses or your co-workers, you don’t have to love everyone you work with. You don’t have to like everyone you work with. We aren’t asking you to socialize after work with anyone you work with. We are asking you to get along, to tolerate each other, in the time and space we provide here. Our customers expect it, our organizational leaders expect it, and you should expect and demonstrate cooperative, supportive treatment by and from each other.”

This is, of course, easy to say and hard to do. For many reasons, personalities collide in the workplace and people can grow to despise each other. In my experience, this most often occurs in two distinct ways. It can start from the get-go, where two employees take an instant dislike to each other on Day One and it never gets any better. Or, more likely and more common, it builds and builds over time, as each employee shows various eccentricities, quirks, and work or personal habits that irritate the other to the point of frustration.

Also, in my experience, one or both of these employees lack the empathy, patience, maturity, social skills, and most importantly, don’t have the Social Intelligence to get along successfully, even when others around them can overlook the Little Things and work together until quitting time.

Social Intelligence is our collective ability, as collaborative citizens and cooperative employees, to read the room and say or do the right thing in that room (or public space) when engaged with other people. Not saying and not doing the wrong thing are definitely more important than keeping quiet on either. Too many people lack this skill and blurt out things they instantly regret--or regret too much later to do anything other than apologize (which they either don’t do or also aren’t very good at doing).

Since we all have various irritants (again, except me) most employees can overlook them when displayed irregularly or even regularly by their co-workers. But some just cannot--or not without help, encouragement, or commands from their bosses--no matter how much they try. Whether it’s an instant dislike or it festers over time, two employees not getting along in public workspaces is bad for business. What I most often see in these situations is not so much open hostility but the more common “silent treatment,” where the employees will just not engage with each other, ever, beyond saying, “Good morning” and “Good night” and even that is a struggle for them to say with any sincerity.

In the Library World, guess what? Our patrons don’t care if we get along as co-workers or not. They don’t care if there are bad feelings between employees. They just want to come to the library and be served professionally, get the information or help they are looking for, and go home. It is up to each library employee to say or do the right things to get along, both in front of the patrons (who don’t want to see us air our dirty laundry on the floor) and just as important, behind the staff doors as well.

It’s not enough for bosses to ask two warring employees to cooperate and collaborate; there has to be a method used that clears the air first. Below is a process a supervisor or manager can follow when there are two employees who can’t or won’t get along. Bosses need to follow these steps as closely as they can, in order to get real and lasting results. You’ll note this will take several meetings with each employee to be able to identify and iron out their differences. This is not a one and done approach; it takes effort on the part of all three of you.

1. Meet with the Employee #1 alone. Ask what Employee #2 does to make it hard to get along, communicate, interact, or to work together. Get specific answers, using examples. Don’t let the employee rely on name-calling, labels, non-specific examples, or sweeping generalizations (“She always. . .” or “He never. . .”) about the other employee to make his or her point.
2. Ask what he or she is willing to do differently to get along with Employee #2.
3. Bring up the idea of using Ground Rules, which are mutually-created, mutually-agreed-upon do’s and don’ts for both employees. Ask Employee #1 to have some examples of useful Ground Rules ready for your next meeting. (Ground Rules are simple, declarative steps both sides agree to, that will guide their future interactions. Examples: “Return my emails or voice mail messages within 24 hours.” “Don’t put me down in front of patrons.” “Explain the reason why the patron needs help, instead of just dumping him or her on me and walking away.” “Come back from your breaks and lunches on time, so I can take mine.” “Stop criticizing my new ideas in our staff meetings.” “Don’t undermine me in front of our boss.” If they can’t think of any because of the stress of the moment, you’ll need to provide some examples. Be ready to do so.)
4. Meet with Employee #2 alone. Ask what Employee #1 does to make it hard to get along and work together. Get specific examples.
5. Ask what he or she is willing to do differently to get along with Employee #1.
6. Mention what Employee #1 said he or she was willing to do to get along more effectively and then gauge the reactions of Employee #2. Introduce the idea of the need for Ground Rules between the two and ask Employee #2 to have some examples ready by your next meeting.
7. Meet a second time with Employee #1 and reaffirm the value and validity of the Ground Rules he or she had suggested will help.
8. Meet a second time with Employee #2 to go over his or her Ground Rules. Explain the Ground Rules offered by Employee #1.
9. Discuss with Employee #1 and Employee #2 whether they need a final closure meeting, facilitated by you. If so, get them to review the Ground Rules with each other, talking face to face, not just speaking to you. If no final group meeting seems needed, ask for their immediate compliance with the agreed-upon Ground Rules.

This approach uses a guided process designed to keep both employees in their respective comfort zones. Your function is to walk them through a set of problem-identification and problem-solving discussions, to keep them focused on potential solutions - Ground Rules - you can all agree upon. Continue to monitor their ongoing compliance and remind them of their Ground Rules if you see them start to slip back into their former non-cooperative ways.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

There is much discussion in the media and the workplace about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI. (Library 2.0 has a recorded webinar on DEI, presented by Dr. Karla Rhay, available for individual or group purchase.) DEI describes a collection of sought-after behaviors that provide for fairness in our hiring processes, supervision, and promotion of all employees. It seeks to provide equal opportunities and support for employees in what are called "protected classes." Most of us are in at least one: age (over 40); race; country of origin; gender; gender identity, sexual orientation; veteran status; religious or political beliefs; physical or psychological disabilities; health conditions; and pregnancy--just to name a few. DEI training programs seek to build awareness about past discriminatory practices, level the playing field of employment and promotion, and increase the creativity, problem-solving, and success of the organization, by bringing in different people who offer different viewpoints.

Part of the DEI training discussion includes the realities of our biases and the assumptions we make about each other, which are often based on sweeping generalizations or a negative encounter with one individual who certainly does not represent the larger population of a particular group. These biases often come from our environment and our exposure to what we are told to think about people different from us by our parents, family, friends, school interactions, or workplaces. They are often defined as "confirmation biases," where our negative encounters with people in any of the protected classes lead us to generalize and thereby seek to confirm, "that's how those people are." We all have our biases and part of DEI awareness-building is to change our thinking about how we perceive others. This takes effort, but the resulting changes in our perceptions can lead us to a better understanding, fairer treatment, patience, empathy, and acceptance.

We know that biases exist in our personal and professional lives. It has been illegal for many decades for companies to use biases to discriminate against people during hiring, and how they are supervised or promoted. It's unethical and can subject an organization to a civil suit. The problem with bias is that it can be subtle. When it's about skin color or gender, it's obviously wrong; when it's about bias connected to perceptions of performance, it can be nearly as harmful but less obvious. Consider if you have seen or experienced (or worse, used) any of these forms of perceptional bias at a library where you work or have worked:

Age bias – "This employee is too old or too young to do this new type of work or to figure out this complex technical equipment, or process this type of information. He or she is too old to learn new things or too young to know how to operate the way we do here or to figure it out." The assumption here is that this is a permanent condition, that they won't be able to learn it.

Experience bias – "This employee lacks the life or work experience to do what we are asking. He or she hasn't done this job or this type of work and doesn't have the technical expertise, know-how, or `time in grade.’" The assumption here is because they haven't done it before elsewhere, they won't have the capacity to learn it here.

Appearance bias – "This employee doesn't `look like' what we want our library staff to look like." This bias is often based on seeing people only by what they look like – especially if it involves how they express their creativity with hairstyles, tattoos, piercings, or clothing choices.

Motivation bias – "This employee doesn't seem to care. He or she is kind of a loner, doesn't jump into group projects, has a `lousy attitude,' seems to be standoffish, and doesn't seem to want to take on new challenges." This assumption may not consider this employee is introverted, prefers to work alone, and may even be burned out because he or she has not been praised, supported, challenged, heard, or fairly managed.

Success bias – What we predict about an employee's success in the organization often occurs because we manage him or her to that expectation. "He's probably not going to do very well" comes true, as does, "She's going to do very well here." This bias comes because of a pre-conceived notion of predicted success. Some managers and supervisors can make this one come true by what they do or don't do for their employees, right at the start.

Recognizing workplace biases is half the issue. The other half requires a commitment to see they are eliminated and that we hire, promote, and manage all library employees fairly, ethically, and equally. The adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover," means we should stop perception bias, set high performance and behavioral standards, provide opportunities for all employees to prove themselves, and coach them toward a level of success that satisfies them and the library organization.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

Consider how much responsibility we place on the shoulders of a receptionist at an average public or private sector front counter. I'm not talking about the entrance desk to the Strategic Air Command or a Hollywood movie studio, where we expect security to be tight and access control is the phrase of the day. I mean an office, with a receptionist in a lobby, alone. We expect this person – with almost no training beyond just good common sense and intuition – to make safety, security, and admittance decisions every day. We expect this employee to be a combination of amateur psychologist, part-time Ninja, and a service-quality champion, all without much guidance beyond, "Check the person's ID. Have him or her sign the Visitor's Logbook. Issue a visitor's badge. Call the person he or she wants to see, to provide an escort to the back office. If this person refuses to follow our procedures, tell him or her they have to leave. Hopefully, all goes well after all that. If not, call Security or the police.” 

In some US states, becoming a uniformed security guard requires classroom training and even passing a Powers of Arrest test. Most security companies worth their salt provide at least a basic round of training to their new-hires, including: how to follow the Posted Orders for the site they are sent to; municipal and state civil, traffic, and criminal laws; basic first aid; and how, when, and why to make a citizen's arrest. Some states have no such training requirements; you get the guard we give you and let's hope that officer has some life skills, work experience, job knowledge, and enough sense not to cause us expensive problems.

Back in the Library World, consider an employee - often a part-timer, a student, or a retired person, paid at or near the bottom of our wage scale - who we ask to combine the skills of a receptionist and a security guard. Behold the Library Page.

We may position these staffers at various Circulation or Information Desks, to perform reception and service duties. But they're most often seen on the floor, shelving books, clearing work areas, cleaning up messes, walking amidst the stacks, and interacting with patrons. Some libraries assign security duties to Pages, asking them to handle disputes between patrons, intervene when staff members get accosted by certain patrons, manage problematic patron behaviors, escort those patrons out of the building, or call the police. 

In short, Pages perform many of the same service and security duties as receptionists and security guards, often for far less pay and more painfully, with not much respect for their efforts. While the patrons may not know who they are, some libraries have created an erstwhile ranking system, where the Pages--who may be substantially younger, older, or thought less-educated than their colleagues (even though some Pages have library degrees)--are not held with or given the same respect as full-time or library-degreed employees.

"Not at my library!" you say. Good for you. But review the following story sent to Library20.com and see how some Pages are treated and how they perceive their status in some library organizations. This is from a recent email sent to Steve Hargadon at www.Library20.com:  

Before the pandemic, I was employed as a Page at our Public Library. There were about 50 of us in the main branch, some of who've been Pages for over 20 years. I know this is prevalent in the public library universe, but I don't understand why Pages are largely considered as disposable low-value commodities, undeserving of benefits or union memberships, As a Page, even with an MLIS, there is no path to advancement; we were hired as Part-Time Temporary labor, restricted to 960 hours/year, which negates all possible benefits. I cannot fathom the reasoning behind labeling a worker as PT/Temp for 25 years. It makes no sense in any universe.

I have always felt that if we Pages disappeared for even a week, the library would descend into utter chaos. Librarians refuse to shelve. At the library where I interned, I was told that their union forbade them from doing it.

With your Library 2.0 blogs, podcasts, and webinars, you've discussed patrons and mental health issues. At our main branch, it was all Pages (again, technically part-time and temporary, even if you've been there for decades) who dealt with the objectively difficult homeless population, primarily in the computer area, where we had 45 computers that were generally 90% occupied by the large homeless population that is in our city. We received no training, other than a trouble/incident report spreadsheet. This is a volatile population and verbal abuse was prevalent, even knife drawing. The librarians wouldn't deal with them unless absolutely mandatory. It largely fell on the Pages and the Library Service Officers (LSOs, also Part-Time and Temporary and with no real authority other than the ability to call the local police).

The satellite branches had far fewer Pages, who were regularly called upon to cover Library Assistant II's responsibilities, which were quite literally above their pay grade, with no formal or informal recognition. When we were monitoring the computer commons, even when there were 45 stations that were generally always booked, there would be only one Page scheduled for the entire room, for two or two and-a-half shifts, except on Sundays which were a very short day and computers were actually fought over; then there would be two Pages assigned per shift.  

My co-Pages (technically classified as As-Needed/Part-Time) were probably the most dedicated, conscientious, and devoted cohort I've worked with in my 40+ years in the workforce, public or private sector.  

There's a lot more I can say, but I have to wonder - why is this discriminatory disparity accepted and so common in public libraries? It does nothing but inflict pain on us, though of course the libraries or the cities that control them save money. I have no idea why this is the tradition in American public libraries, and perhaps you do, or perhaps this is a suitable topic for a wider discussion."

I don't know the answer to this employee's painful question as to why this happens in some libraries. If you're a library leader, is it time for you to review the job description, duties, assignments, task orientations, and work culture status of your Pages? This may require help and support from your Human Resources colleagues, especially if you are in a union environment. It may be time for a new look at what appears to be an ongoing and long-running issue. All library employees - part-time, full-time, interns, or volunteers - deserve respectful treatment, inclusion into the work culture, support for what they do, and praise for how they do it.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

In this third part of our three-part discussion of the pioneering customer service work of my father, Dr. Karl Albrecht (www.KarlAlbrecht.com), let’s look at his collection of ideas about what he calls the Spirit of Service. 

The Spirit of Service is a set of 20 behaviors that can help all library employees focus on not just the “how-to” part of providing great customer service (as we discussed in my blog and podcast about Karl’s booklet, The Code of Quality Service), but the “why” part about serving our patrons. 

Serving others in the library environment is all about creating a moment in time where the employee and the patron connect, communicate, and deliver or receive advice, information, services, or solutions. The concepts presented here take some thought, since they are a combination of abstract ideas and concrete behaviors. We can operationalize them throughout the library, using training, reminders, stories, examples, and praise.

1. Service should mean something to all of us.
   
   Karl defines a service as “anything a person does that contributes something of value to someone else.” That certainly applies in the library.
   
   
2. Service is all about feelings.
   
   The service experience starts with a feeling - ours, as library employees - and ends with a feeling - our patrons’ perspective, about how they were served. Good feelings at the start of an employee-patron interaction usually leads to good feelings at the end.  
   
   
3. What is the “Spirit of Service?”
   
   Karl defines the Spirit of Service as “an attitude, based on certain values and beliefs about people, life, and work, that leads a person to willingly serve others and take pride in his or her work.” This means you care about your job, your co-workers, your bosses, and our patrons, so you do work that you are proud of.  
   
   
4. The people you serve need your best efforts.
   
   Great service providers are also great listeners. They don’t get distracted by side work or other conversations; they focus on the person they are helping. Service interactions require concentration, effort, and even stamina. Be ready to do your best, at the start of your workday and all the way through to the end of it. 
   
   
5. You have three service roles.
   
   You have your Worker role, where you do your job with a commitment to excellence, on behalf of your bosses and the patrons. You have your Team Member role, where you help your co-workers and colleagues when needed, sharing information, support, and effort. And one of your most important roles is to be a Brand Ambassador for your library. You’re always being watched and even judged by the patrons, as to how you do your job. When you wear a library name tag or a shirt that identifies you as a library staffer, the patron doesn’t care how long you have worked there or what your job title is (or if you’re tired and want to go home). They want and expect good service, so represent your library whenever you’re on the floor.   
   
   
6. Nobody is too important to serve others.
   
   Library leaders, directors, managers, supervisors, and the PIC (Person In Charge for that month, week, or shift) need to serve their co-workers and the people that work for them. Part of the role of a skilled leader is to remove obstacles that make it difficult for employees to do their work. Effective leaders know when to jump in and help their team members, especially in front of and on behalf of the patrons. 
   
   
7. To lead is to serve.
   
   Library leaders should realize the significance of their two-way relationship with their employees: they give orders and instructions and ask that work gets done, and they realize they have to take care of their employees. Understanding work-life balance is an important leadership skill. Good bosses serve their people as they ask them to serve the patrons.  
   
   
8. Everybody is important in the chain of service.
   
   Libraries may have full-time employees, part-time employees, interns, or volunteers. They are all important and they all can play an important part in providing good service to patrons. All library staffers - regardless of their job titles - bring their life history, job knowledge, educational experiences, and service skills to their work.    
   
   
9. Some of us serve unseen.
   
   If the nature of your job is that you don’t or rarely see the library patron on the floor, it’s easy to think you’re not in the service business. But even if you don’t serve the patrons, your job is to serve other parts of the library organization and serve those co-workers who do interact with patrons. Working behind the scenes and away from the public counters is just as valuable to the library as a frontline patron-contact position.    
   
   
10. Your co-workers are your customers, too.
    
    Your co-workers count on you to deliver information, projects, products, and results. Just as you have responsibilities to support your supervisors, you have an equal responsibility to serve your colleagues so they can do their jobs too. We’re all in the service business - with different customers, priorities, and deadlines - but with the same goals. 
    
    
11. Do you have the “Spirit of Service?”
    
    Are you coming to work with a positive attitude? Are you ready for your workday? Are you bringing as much energy and enthusiasm to the end of your workday as you do at the start of it?
    
    
12. The ancient Greeks called it “agape.” 
    
    This purest definition of this concept means, “a feeling of unconditional love and concern for others.” In our workplace, this idea is displayed by being unselfish, supportive, friendly, approachable, and kind, to both colleagues and patrons.
    
    
13. The ancient Hawaiians called it “aloha.”
    
    In Hawaii, aloha is a concept with many definitions. It is a spirit of oneness with the earth and ocean, with others, having feelings of love and friendship, shared through the energy of our breath (alo = deep within, ha = breath). At work, the aloha spirit is joyful, perceptive of the needs of others, and welcoming the uniqueness of every person we serve. 
    
    
14. Some people call it the “Golden Rule.”
    
    We all know the Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” or “Treat people the way you want to be treated.” Because we all see our world differently, perhaps we can add to this by saying, “Treat people the way they wanted to be treated, not only how you would want to be treated.” This starts by being a good listener and asking respectful, clarifying questions.  
    
    
15. We all have to work together.
    
    You may have worked in some jobs where a few other employees spent more time complaining about the work than it would have taken to do the actual job. Work is work, which means it’s not always fun, challenging, easy, or different. Do your part to pitch in and help get the tough jobs out of the way. Working together can make the day go by faster.  
    
    
16. Caring about others starts with caring about yourself.
    
    A positive attitude starts with you. The good feelings that create great service begin with you. How you feel is often picked up on by your co-workers. You can communicate your feelings - good or bad, positive or negative - to our patrons as well. Monitor your use of eye contact, tone, body language, and general nourishing feelings throughout your workday. Make adjustments to feel better so you serve better.  
    
    
17. The people you serve may not always be lovable.
    
    The customer is not always right. Patrons can be difficult, entitled, rude, and even obnoxious. That doesn’t mean you have to be that way too.  Every person you meet has his or her own struggles, battles, and difficulties. Try not to take what they say or do personally. They’re usually mad at the situation or themselves, not at you, personally. Do the best you can to get them on their way, well-served by you.
    
    
18. You may not always be feeling your best.
    
    Sometimes being in a service job when you are not feeling very helpful, energetic, or enthusiastic will require you to rely on your good acting skills. You may have to roleplay positive feelings for the day, until you can go home and recharge. 
    
    
19. At the “Moment of Truth,” it’s up to you.
    
    Each time a patron comes in contact with any part of our library, Karl Albrecht says, it is a Moment of Truth. This includes over the counter, over the phone, in the stacks, or even online. After every interaction, our patrons make a score on the internal report cards we call carry around in our heads as to the level and quality of service they received. Successfully managing each of these important Moments of Truth is up to you.
    
    
20. We’re all in this work together.
    
    Take care of yourself, take care of your bosses, take care of your co-workers, so we can all take care of our patrons.  

Karl Albrecht's Spirit of Service Service offers 20 thoughtful, practical steps toward improving and sustaining your own brand of service excellence. 

We can customize copies of Dr. Karl Albrecht’s 20-page Spirit of Service booklet for your library, putting your logo on the cover and including a message from the Library Director inside. Contact Steve Hargadon at Library 2.0.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

Much of my work for Library 2.0 centers around the outward customer service experience: how we treat the patrons and how we can stay safe and secure while doing so. We exist to serve the public and that part of library service will always be of the most importance. 

It also pays dividends to look at how we treat each other, at every level in the library organization. Civility matters, in our interpersonal relationships with each other, whether it’s between leaders, with managers and supervisors to employees, and between employees. From the newest volunteer to the most seasoned library employee, how we treat each other and the type of workplace that we create, with conscious efforts, make a difference in retention, morale, and ultimately, how we take care of our patrons. You want to feel good about coming to work and good about doing your work, and these are separate and related feelings--you can want to go to work and not want to do your work, vice versa, both, or neither. Good feelings about both can and should rub off on your co-workers. 

The work environment we intentionally create becomes something to be proud of. It encourages library applicants to want to apply, new library employees to want to stay, and employees at other branches to want to transfer there. The reverse is true too. When we mistreat each other, when supervisors mistreat employees, or we allow a toxic workplace to grow and saturate the facility, good people quit, other miserable employees stay and make their co-workers miserable, and the reputation around town is, “This Is Not A Good Place To Work.” At a time when many public agencies and private sector firms are competing hard to get and keep skilled employees, reputations matter. When we use praise for each other and get it from our bosses, when we treat each other with dignity and respect (not just say it, but demonstrate it, daily), and when we hold ourselves and our leaders accountable to foster and nurture a nourishing workplace, it ends up improving our customer-patron relationships too.

One of the challenges we can encounter when trying to create a civil workplace comes when we create platitudes instead of action statements. The phrase, “We need to respect each other here,” sounds great when we say it during a team-building exercise or when we see it on an easel pad page, created during a staff meeting (or on one of those motivational posters with trees and lakes and kayaks). The key is to turn an abstract concept – “respect” – into operational behaviors. “Respect each other” means things like returning email messages promptly, making eye contact, not killing new ideas in meetings, and valuing lifestyle differences. It’s important to turn ideas into tools everyone can use. 

The following “Code of Civility,” created by my father, Dr. Karl Albrecht (www.KarlAlbrecht.com) offers a set of guidelines for us to get along, not just in words about polite workplace behavior, but in how to turn ideas into actions. Consider these civility steps for your library:  

In our library organization . . .

1. Our library leaders model and encourage a culture of civility. 
2. We treat each other with respect, courtesy, and consideration.
3. We value the small courtesies of everyday life.
4. We value the diversity in people, ideas, and points of view.
5. We can disagree agreeably - we don’t personalize or emotionalize our differences.
6. We resolve misunderstandings maturely, without accusing, blaming, or finger-pointing.
7. We cooperate between work groups, not putting fences between us.
8. We play fair, not letting destructive office politics divide us.
9. We share information and knowledge, understanding that they are valuable assets.
10. We expect each other to act as good citizens of our library organization.    

A complementary podcast on this topic is at https://soundcloud.com/user-311117266-556053777/albrecht-code-of-civility. 

Karl Albrecht's “Code of Civility” offers 10 practical steps we can put to use today. If you’re interested in having customized booklets with this Code printed for your library, please get in touch with admin@learningrevolution.com.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

In 1985, my father, Dr. Karl Albrecht, wrote Service America!: Doing Business in the New Economy, the first big book on customer service. He described service excellence as a "managed event," meaning it was something that business leaders, managers, and supervisors should carefully consider and focus on with their employees. "Good service is no accident," was a primary theme of his book. He talked about having the right three things in place: service strategies (the direction), service systems (the methods, approaches, and policies), and service people (the right employees, with the right attitude, training, and motivation to serve others). He referred to this as the Service Triangle and it still works today.

Part of his efforts to train frontline service employees was to create the Code of Quality Service, a set of 10 behaviors that can provide a path to service excellence, both personally and professionally.

This set of 10 can be useful as a reminder for you as a library service professional and as a set of training guidelines for managers and supervisors. It works as a refresher for longtime library employees and as an orientation tool for new employees, as to what our library service culture should look like. Most of these 10 are operational and not abstract, meaning you can put them to use right away.

1. Greet each patron immediately or when passing by.

This concept is about both politeness and safety. We want to see patrons as they enter the library and pay attention to them as they move through the facility. Respectful eye contact can help us all make a human connection. We can all benefit from looking more at people and less at screens.

2. Give each patron you contact your complete attention.

It's easy to get caught up or distracted in the work we need to do. What we call "multi-tasking" on the patrons' behalf is actually "split attention" or "being distracted." It's a simple step just to tell patrons, anytime you need to do a part of your job that requires you to disengage from them. "I'll just need a quick moment to step over to the computer and take a look at your record" or "Let me go and ask one of my co-workers about that and I'll come right back to you." Those types of statements are enough to buy you the time to do your job and serve them well.

3. Make the first 30 seconds count.

This concept is related to #9 as well. Patrons remember how they were treated by recalling the beginning and the end of the service encounter. You may only have a brief interaction with a patron but he or she will remember your approachability, tone, and helpfulness.

4. Play your part to be real, not phony or bored.

If you have a high human-contact job, with a lot of the same transactions that don't require a lot of creativity to get them done, it's easy to get tired, burned out, and become what Karl calls a "BoZo" or a "Bored Zombie." Change what you say and how you say it with each patron. Don't get robotic in your answers, greetings, or wrap-ups. We've all dealt with service people who say, "Have a nice day - NEXT!" and don't really mean it.

5. Show your energy with sincere friendliness.

Whether you're talking over the phone, over the counter, or in the stacks, know that you're being viewed as a representative of the library. Patrons don't care about job titles or how long you've been there; they want service from someone who is truly friendly, not faking it, and who has the type of enthusiasm that says they care about their jobs and about helping people, at the start of the workday and at the end of it.

6. Be the patron's problem-solver.

Own the patron's issue until you can solve it or get it over to a colleague or boss who can. This step is all about not brushing off our patrons, but taking ownership for that brief moment or long period when you're helping them. Be creative, within the limits of our policies, and solve the presenting problem the best way you can, the first time.

7. Use your common sense.

We've all been in service situations where the person on the other side of the counter or on the other end of the phone has not been authorized to think. This person could come up with a smart solution but just won't. You get paid to think and work on behalf of our patrons. Do the right thing for them, using a common-sense sensibility.

8. Bend the rules when the situation calls for it.

Don't give away the store, but if you can solve the patron's problem or fix the issue by using creative, empathic solutions, do so. If you can waive a fee or a fine and it makes sense, get permission from your boss and do it. Don't always get stuck in the fine print of the policy manual or the Code of Conduct. Don't say to the patron, "Well, I'm just doing my job by saying no to you." Know the difference between the "letter of the law" and the "spirit of the law." Like with Number 6, be the patron's advocate if you can.

9. Make the last 30 seconds count.

Like with Number 3, the end of your service encounter with patrons can make a big difference in how they see their library experience. Thank your patrons for coming in, or for being patient while you worked on their behalf. Even if they don't thank you back, thank them anyway.

10. Take good care of yourself.

Service jobs are challenging and tiring. Don't get burned out. Take your breaks and lunches, use your vacation days and floating holidays. Pace yourself throughout your workday. Get more sleep, get some exercise, and catch up on your reading or other hobbies as a way to stay fresh and focused. Help yourself have a long and healthy career in library service.

Karl Albrecht's Code of Quality Service offers ten easy and practical steps toward improving and sustaining your own brand of service excellence.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

As of this writing on the day after (March 27, 2021), the Saturday afternoon stabbing incident at the Lynn Valley Library in North Vancouver, BC, Canada looks horrific. An as-yet-unnamed suspect in his 20s stabbed seven people with some type of knife or edged weapon, including a woman who died. All of the survivors had to be taken to the hospital. An early video outside the library shows the suspect being arrested by the RCMP and it appears he had injured himself in the incident. (It's common for attackers who use knives to hurt themselves, mostly on their hands and arms.) Police officials say they believe they have the lone perpetrator in custody and are "searching for a motive."

If we had to guess, it seems like the motive will center on a serious mental illness. Perhaps schizophrenia, involving voices or visions, with a command hallucination that compelled this person to stab a group of strangers in the library. This will all be left to his defense attorney and the court-ordered psychiatrist to determine. 

As with mass shootings and other public attacks, where the motive is not domestic violence-related, a robbery, a gang retaliation, or a drug sale gone bad, the primary motivation for these random attacks is the desire for revenge. The attacker believes someone has treated him or her poorly, for whatever reason, and now this person needs to retaliate in the worst possible way.

It is the media who starts the earliest focus on the motive (and subsequently, the police and prosecutors, to make their case in court). The public will ask the same questions: Why did this happen? What would make someone do such a horrible thing, in the library, of all peaceful places?  

Perhaps the motive, in this case, is irrational religious beliefs; terrorism; perceived mistreatment by a library employee; a confrontation with another library patron; anger at parents or siblings for the way the attacker was raised; or a homicide-suicide plan that was stopped before this person could carry out the second part.

An edged weapon (most commonly a knife, but also a razor, box cutter, carpet cutter, ice pick, or sharp object used to stab or slash) is a common carry for many street people. This is especially true with the chronically, long-term homeless (who need to defend themselves from assaults or robbery attempts) and mentally ill people (who may not be able to acquire a firearm because of legal, financial, or dysfunctional reasons). These sharp items are easy to hide, light and portable, cheap to get, available anywhere, noiseless, require almost no skill to use, and are therefore, deadly weapons all.

In your library, you may come across patrons who carry knives on a sheath on their belts. This could be a folding knife or a fixed knife, which does not fold. Some people carry tactical knives, which can be opened with one hand at the flick of their wrist. (These knives have largely replaced the classic "switchblade knife" popular in 50's teenage hoodlum movies). Since edged weapons are so flat, they can be hidden almost anywhere on a person's body, or in clothing, pockets, purse, backpack, wallet, or pocketbook. Not everyone who carries into the library is dangerous. It is their intent, with that knife, that we care about. Do they look like a construction worker or an irrational person? A tradesperson or a threatening person? Context, in these observations, matters.

One of the oldest sayings in law enforcement is, "It's the hands that kill." So if you are ever dealing with patrons who are acting irrationally, making threats to harm themselves or others, or seem about ready to explode into violence, pay close attention to what they are holding or carrying. Even if they are trying to hide an edged weapon, you may still see them holding something cupped in either hand.

Most people are righthanded (only 13% are lefthanded in the US). As such, most angry people seeking to use any type of weapon will hold it in their dominant hand. Play the percentages and focus on what they are holding in their right hands first.

Since a knife or other cutting/slashing object is a proximity weapon, your best defense when confronted by a person holding one is distance, and a lot of it. (People only throw knives in the movies.) You need to treat a patron armed with an edged weapon just as you would if they had a firearm: use Run – Hide – Fight. Get as far away from this person as possible, as quickly as you can, and take as many co-workers and patrons with you. Use all available proxemics barriers to put between you and the armed person to block his or her path to you as you escape: desks, chairs, counters, carts, half-shelves.

If you can get to a Safe Room, with as many colleagues and patrons as you can move there, do so. Lock or barricade the door and call 9-1-1 as soon as you can. Like with an active shooter, describe what this "armed attacker" is doing, to the police dispatcher. Wait from this position of safety until the police arrive. 

If you have no choice but to defend yourself from an edged weapon attack, you can already guess your wrists, throat, and chest are your most vulnerable, life-ending targets. Try to grab whatever protective hard object you can: a chair; a notebook, hardback book, or a thick paperback; a keyboard, laptop, or tablet; to put between you and the knife and those areas of your body where you have the most arteries. You can survive being slashed – as long as it's not across your throat or wrists. You can survive being stabbed – as long as it's not to your heart or lungs. Space and distance are your first choices; protective objects are your next if you cannot flee the scene.

In our work in threat management, my colleagues care much less about motive, because it is discovered after the event, and therefore cannot be used to stop the event. We care more about interrupting the opportunity for harm.

As an example, consider that the US Marine Corps uses a three-part concept to talk about how we respond to a terrible, terrorism event, like a bombing. Each part is significant. There is "being on the Left of Boom," which is what we see and do before the bomb goes off, to stop it from happening. There is "Boom," where the bomb has just detonated. And there is "being on the Right of Boom," which is how we respond in the aftermath of the bomb going off. Obviously, our military branches and protective intelligence groups, like the US Secret Service, want always to be Left of Boom, stopping horrible things before they happen. As a threat management practitioner, I have spent my adult life trying to keep people Left of Boom.

Based on this incident, where the subject used an edged weapon to commit a homicide and injure or try to kill six other people, I have these threat assessment questions for the library staff:

• Did they see some warning signs in this person's behavior, in the months, weeks, or days before his attack?
• Had they ever seen him carry or display an edged weapon?
• Had he been asked to leave the library because of his negative interactions with staff or patrons?
• Had the police ever been called the library to deal with him?
• Did this person ever make overt or covert threats to harm himself or others? 
• How did they interpret those threats? Rambling, nonsensical, not serious, or quite serious?

All this points to an adage in threat assessment and management that my colleagues and I follow: "A useful predictor of future threatening or violent behavior is past threatening or violent behavior." 

While we can never "predict violence," predict the future, or ever predict human behavior, warning signs of either overt or veiled threats need a full security assessment from law enforcement or a trained security specialist.

As of this writing, we don't know if this person attacked only patrons, only library staffers, or both. We feel badly for the victims, no matter if they were visiting or working. The library is supposed to be a safe space for all. I will continue to my efforts to make that true.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

Certain employees at the library, who are ever-vigilant for all things behaviorally-oriented, can become the self-appointed “champions” of the facility. They monitor every conversation they can hear (or sometimes only what they can see and not actually hear) between employees or between employees and patrons. They are keen to determine that bullying, sexual or racial harassment, sexism or racism, homophobia or transphobia, inappropriate jokes, non-consensual flirting between adults, or other forms of a “hostile work environment” are taking place and therefore, they must tell management immediately.

They wear out a path to the supervisor’s office or they skip the boss and go right to the Personnel or Human Resources office, (where they often have an engraved chair). They corner every supervisor, manager, and director and rant about unfair treatment by or to their co-workers and how management at every level is “allowing” this to take place without caring.

This sounds like noble work but here’s the problem: what they hear or see is not any of those things; it’s just employees talking with each other or with patrons and being in complete control of the content, impact, and tone of their conversations. They know not to cross boundary lines with each other and violate our basic workplace treatment policies. But the “champions” don’t see this; they see injustice everywhere at work and it’s their job to report it. 

Here’s the ironic part: while the “champions” are great observers of others, they are not good employees. They don’t work hard and are careless with their attendance, productivity, and efforts. They aren’t reliable on projects and when they get reminded of missing deadlines or turning in poor quality work, they howl that they are being “harassed” because they have been a whistleblower on all the foul deeds that are going on in the library environment.

Supervisors of the “champions” have to walk a delicate balance when confronting their poor performance and lackluster work efforts. Any counseling memo or performance improvement plan is met with protests, not acceptance of the undeniable fact that they need to work harder and better. In their minds, because they believe they have blown the whistle on the multitude of workplace communication sins, their supervisors must be retaliating against them. The “champion” loves to start every coaching meeting with, “Do I need to call my union rep?”

So what’s the solution? How do you manage entitled and poor-performing “champions”? How do you get past the distraction techniques they use to deny their ineptitude in the office or on the library floor? How do you talk to them about their attitudes, without thinking you’re going to get sued after every conversation?

Managing the “champion” requires management courage. We define this skill as both the ability and recognized urgency to have the necessary crucial conversations about work performance and/or their work behavior with the “champions.”

Courageous library supervisors will say: “I’m sorry what you heard or saw seemed offensive to you. I disagree that it violates our harassment or hostile workplace policies. I am careful, as is this agency, to evaluate the behavior and performance of every employee and look at the interactions with our patrons. I pay attention to our interactions here. Know that when I say I will step in and set boundaries, make changes, or enforce consequences, I will, with employees and patrons. Not everything that goes on here is related or aimed directly or indirectly at you. I want you to focus on your assignments and stop worrying about everyone else. As your boss, I have the right to evaluate your work performance. It’s not personal; it’s coaching. We are going to have work performance conversations when I believe it’s necessary. Please go back to work.”

The tool of choice for the courageous manager is coaching. We define coaching as a non-disciplinary, performance, or behavior-changing conversation. Courageous library supervisors will initiate as many coaching conversations as necessary, until they don’t see any changes, which is when they know to switch to progressive discipline.   

Dealing with the “champion” using coaching can be paradoxical. Courageous supervisors know they will have to spend more time with the “champion,” not less. “Champions” will require more goal-setting and more interactions with supervisors, not less, even though there is a tendency for most bosses to want to avoid them.

The library supervisor who stands his or her ground can fight the “champion’s” poor performance, disruptive behavior, and entitled attitude with consequences, coaching, and courage.

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

It's hard to know fully what library leaders need to do as the Coronavirus and the pandemic's impact go into the wretched history books. Leaders had better be able to adapt to new roles and different ways of supervising their people and running their operations. Being a library boss now sure looks different from even two years ago. Consider some of these leadership “truths:"

The higher you get, the less "work" you do. This seems untrue but it just is. Once you promote or rise to the top of your agency, you really get further away from the field. Some employees never want to promote because they like working where they are or doing what they are doing and don't want the responsibilities or the pleasures/hassles of supervising their peers and handling patron complaints. Once you start to move up the library ladder, you're doing lots of work to be sure, but it's different work than what you were first hired for or what you started doing.

There will never be enough time, resources, money, or people to do everything you need to do or want to do. So stop saying, "Where does the time go?" and make better use of the time you have. Free up your time by delegating more. If you're always going home tired and the people who work for you are never going home tired, you need to give them more to do. Budgets are always tight, staffing is rarely at full, and even when you have money and personnel, it doesn't feel like it's enough. Prioritize!

Remember Teddy Roosevelt. He said, "Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are." How about we modify his advice slightly, to say, "Do the best you can, with who you have, where you are." You can't always pick who works for you, but you can pick what they do for you. Make the best fits, between their KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities) and what needs to get done. Don't hesitate to give your people new challenges, related but different job duties, and opportunities to succeed (or learn by failing, safely). That's how you identify who your future leaders are.

Don't ignore the Strength-Weakness Irony. This a human trait we all have, a concept some of us understand more intuitively, acutely, and externally than others. And it's one that we don't often see in ourselves: "Your strength, taken to an extreme, becomes a weakness." Whatever you're too good at can become a blind spot. 

Therapists define addiction as repetitive behavior that over time creates negative consequences. We can become overly-involved in things that can cause problems. (Notice how often we can spot this in others but not so much with ourselves.)

From a work perspective, the Strength-Weakness Irony often manifests itself in a huge time drain for you, where you get tied up in issues, problems, and events that are probably not even in your area of responsibility as a leader. See if you recognize yourself in some of these: 

Workaholism – If I said, "Hi. I'm Steve and I'm a workaholic," some of you might quickly shout "Hi Steve!” which means you're workaholics too. This is not a badge of honor. Even though it might seem like it's good for your career or your bank account, it's actually bad for your physical and mental health. 

"Super Boss" disease – "I'll take care of it. I'll handle it. Step aside! Boss coming through!" Your strength – you're hands-on – becomes a weakness and you slip into micromanager territory. Super Bosses have difficulty delegating and this leads their employees to believe they are not trusted to do their jobs. 

Perfectionism – "I need to make one more tweak to the PowerPoint before I send over the training slides" or "I'll have to go over this employee's report one more time with a red fine-tooth comb before I approve it." Sometimes, good enough is good enough. Bosses who seek perfection in all they create (and from what they expect from others) will be disappointed. Plus, it's a huge time waster. A library director was once asked by her staff to pick the trees to be planted in the green areas around the exterior of the building. She carefully researched her answers and provided her choices, two years later. 

"I can't say no." – This one is often connected to the others. When you demonstrate your workaholic traits to others, when you wear the Super Boss cape, and when you try to be too perfect, you end up taking on other people's work, fail to delegate, and become exhausted. Good library leaders use their human resources assertively and with compassion; they make the best use of time and people. It's not always about what you can do alone, nor should it be.

An Interview with Dr. James R. Wining (by Dr. Steve Albrecht)

My name is Jim Wining and I am a parent of an autistic person (AP). While my educational background says teacher and my work background says businessperson, my real life has been, since the birth of my oldest son in 1982, about autism. As a father, business owner, business executive, and pastor, my life has been all about listening to autistic persons and communicating with them with understanding and love for their differences.

Over the past thirty-eight years, I helped start and maintain Autism Outreach Fellowship at Lee’s Summit, Missouri, with the goal of providing the autistic community quarterly social events for their autistic family member. I have also directed a program in New Milford, Pennsylvania, piloting the employment opportunities for young autistic adults. 

My wife and I started a program, which lasted over twenty years in Lone Jack, Missouri, known as “Show Time Llamas & Alpacas.” Its goal was to integrate the autistic child into the world with animals that smell good, feel soft, and quietly hum a relaxing sound. While these autistic children interacted with other “so-called normal children,” they became mutually socially compatible.  

Finally, as President of Acts Ministry, I have taken the socialization of autistic persons to religious organizations who have been resistive or adversarial to autistic families. My goal in both Springfield and Independence, Missouri, and elsewhere has been to provide events to help the public become more aware and less fearful or antagonistic to autistic people who are receiving them and communicating in a different way.

Steve Albrecht asked me to put together some key points to help library staff interact and serve autistic persons. We will be presenting a webinar on this issue for Library 2.0 soon. Thank you for understanding these unique patrons in your libraries.

AUTISM AWARENESS: Some Triggers in the Library

From VeryWellhealth.com, “Anyone who meets the criteria for having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will be further diagnosed as having ASD Level 1, ASD Level 2, or ASD Level 3, according to criteria outlined in the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), used by clinicians. These levels are based on a person's strengths and limitations in regards to their ability to communicate, adapt to new situations, expand beyond restricted interests, and manage daily life. They specifically indicate how much support an autistic person needs, with Level 1 meaning relatively little support is required; Level 2 meaning they need substantial support; and Level 3 indicating they need significant support (https://bit.ly/2L1CkwW).”

LIBRARIANS - Staff should not raise voice much above a whisper. The AP knows the voice level of a library probably better than the librarian, so if the librarian is unable to communicate with the AP immediately seek additional support and avoid repeating instructions or directions. Always be prepared for confinement even if the Guardian is present. 

BRIGHT LIGHTS - These should be avoided as autistic persons (AP) may react either catatonically or violently. 

TOUCH - If advised of germ possibilities on books, the AP will neither open nor be in an area with the books.

SMELL - Extreme odors, like with disinfectants, may result in screaming or a near meltdown. 

DIRECTIONS - Try to avoid the “no” command. Go around it if the AP asks for a book and it is checked out answer this way, “The book will be available on a future date.” Try to avoid saying words of rejection such as, “The book is checked out and not available.”

RESTROOMS - This can be a source of extreme reaction including demands of cleanliness to disrupting the cleanliness of the restrooms. Try to avoid single rooms with private locking doors.

“MELTDOWN” - This is a last-ditch effort by AP to defend against a sensory attack, physical confrontation, and/or emotional event. A meltdown can include screaming, yelling, throwing objects, pounding his or her head against wall, tearing flesh from his or her body, and other physical and non-physical reactions to a perceived challenge

CONFINEMENT - This is a step taken by two or more people to restrict the actions of an AP during a time of Melt Down. The action involves forming a circle around the AP with your body and arms extended. Do not physically contact the AP but be prepared to be struck and to repel the attack. Do not administer physical restraint. The typical meltdown usually lasts 3 to 5 minutes but when aggravated or for some unknown reason can last up to 30 minutes. Eliminate public contact around the melt-down area and seek the Guardian’s advice or public service including fire and police personnel. Firefighters are usually better trained than police to handle such matters. 

SOCIAL DISTANCING - Space is your ally. The 6-foot rule is perfect for seating, standing, and general movement in the library. Remember AP always have a difficulty with socialization. 

CHECKING OUT MATERIALS - Don’t worry about eye contact but be careful not to take items from AP. Let AP voluntarily hand you the book, CD, etc. Ask him or her for his or her library card or the Guardian’s card. If the AP has reached without a card very calmly say, “The items will be right here in a visible, designated place and will be checked out to you when your card is presented.” Be careful to itemize these items especially if they are “no check-out items” as they could likely disappear. If the Guardian is not present send someone to find him or her.

LEAVING WITH MATERIALS WITHOUT CHECKING THEM OUT - If the AP is leaving with unauthorized material immediately contact the Guardian. If the Guardian has left the library and is outside, motion to him or her for assistance. Do not follow the AP.

AP RESTRICTIONS - AP should not be allowed to be in the library if he or she is required to have a Guardian for life decisions, including health and welfare matters. If the AP has, in your best estimation, “Diminished Authority,” a Guardian must be present at all times. Seek help from a library supervisor to take the course of action mentioned above.

VIOLENCE - Physical or verbal conflict can occur instantly, without an apparent warning. For AP, more frequently than not, verbal conflict results in self-inflicted physical violence to the AP self, not the perceived attacking party. If confinement fails within a 5-minute period or the violence escalates, withdraw and call for police or fire help. Always keep the public away from the AP. 

DRINKING FOUNTAINS & REFRESHMENTS - Public drinking services are potential sites for a physical disruption and should be avoided. Limiting refreshments to water only is recommended. Other eating, drinking, or chewing items can be distracting to the AP and are a source of “fairness complaints,” which can escalate into a situation.

ADMISSION TO THE LIBRARY - You must be aware at all times of AP in the library. Therefore, require guests providing guardian services to notify staff upon entering. I strongly recommend that Guardians should be restricted to not more than 3 APs at a time. Look out for large numbers of group home members -- 5 to 10 APs with only one or two Guardians. This is a high-risk situation that could trigger multiple meltdowns at a time.

PARKING LOT - If possible, have someone regularly checking the parking lot for AP patrons. If you see an AP having problems in the parking lot, don’t let him or her into the library. Meet the Guardians at the main door and discuss their visit before anyone enters. You may want to postpone their visit, restrict their numbers, or only allow certain APs who are not an apparent danger. All library staff needs to monitor for behavioral concerns. 

SAFETY FIRST - If a meltdown occurs, contain the incident, decide if you need to evacuate the area and then decide if you need to call your public safety professionals.