Preventing Harassment of Library Staff:
Responding to Sexual or Racial Behaviors by Patrons
A "Safe Library" webinar, part of the Library 2.0 Service, Safety, and Security Series with Dr. Steve Albrecht
OVERVIEW:
Harassment of library staff members continues to be a shadow issue in the library profession. This means it may not be reported soon enough, handled thoroughly, or enforced with real consequences. When harassment is mismanaged by library leaders or outside HR professionals, the message to the employee-targets is mixed: Do we care about this issue to have hard conversations with patrons that their words, conduct, pervasiveness, and behavior are not welcome in our library?
Patrons can sexually or racially harass other patrons, as well as staff. They can rationalize their language and behaviors as part of “saying or doing what I want because this is a free country,” but that’s just wrong. We have policies, a Code of Conduct, and a workplace culture that prohibits physical, sexual, racial, and bullying harassment, and we need to enforce those, even if it means we lose a patron (who probably won’t be missed). We owe that vigorous response to all employees, who expect us to fulfill the legal, moral, and ethical duty to provide a harassment-free workplace.
This subject, and its impact on the library, is one of those “hard conversations” that library leaders have to have with certain consistently problematic patrons. Like hygiene issues, or staring behaviors, or causing verbal disruptions, this starts with a library leader saying, “We need to talk,” which means, “Patron, you need to listen about what cannot continue here.”
This 60-minute training webinar is presented by Library 2.0 and hosted by trainer, author, and library service, safety, and security expert, Dr. Steve Albrecht. This session is the next in our "The Safe Library Book Series,” for all library leaders and employees. A handout copy of the presentation slides will be available to all who participate.
LEARNING AGENDA:
- How do we define harassment from (mostly) male patrons?
- Moving away from the employee as a “victim” of harassment. Is there a better way to empower staffers who are targeted?
- Is there a time limit on whose staff can report harassing behaviors?
- What does it mean by “multiple channels of reporting” for harassing events?
- How can PICs, supervisors, managers, and directors work together to set realistic, effective boundaries with harassing patrons?
- What if the harasser is a co-worker? Is the investigative process similar or different?
- Defining sexual, racial, political, or hate speech language accurately. Where and when does “free speech” begin and end at the library?
- How do you handle the patron who minimizes, denies, rationalizes, or blames others for his behavior?
- What is the difference between harassing behaviors and stalking behaviors?
DATE: Thursday, April 13th, 2023, at 2:00 pm US - Eastern Time
COST:
- $99/person - includes any-time access to the recording and the presentation slides and receiving a participation certificate. To arrange group discounts (see below), to submit a purchase order, or for any registration difficulties or questions, email admin@library20.com.
- FREE for those on individual or group all-access passes (see below).
TO REGISTER:
Click above to pay. You can pay by credit card, and will receive an email within a day with information on how to attend the webinar live and then your permanent access to the webinar recording. If you are paying for someone else to attend, you'll be prompted to send an email to admin@library20.com with the name and email address of the actual attendee.
If you have any trouble registering for a webinar, if you need to be invoiced or pay by check, or if you have any questions, please email admin@library20.com.
NOTE: please check your spam folder if you don't receive your confirmation email right away.
SPECIAL GROUP RATES (email admin@library20.com to arrange):
- Multiple individual log-ins and access from the same organization paid together: $75 each for 3+ registrations, $65 each for 5+ registrations. Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
- The ability to show the webinar (live or recorded) to a group located in the same physical location or in the same virtual meeting from one log-in: $299.
- Large-scale institutional access for viewing with individual login capability: $499 (hosted either at Library 2.0 or in Niche Academy). Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
ALL-ACCESS PASSES:
- All-access annual passes include unlimited access to the recordings of all of Dr. Albrecht's previous Library 2.0 webinars, plus live and recorded access to his new webinars for one year. These are hosted either at Library 2.0 or Niche Academy (if preferred).
- For a $499 individual all-access annual pass to all of Dr. Albrecht's live webinars and recordings for one year, please click here.
- Inquiries for all-access organizational contracts should be directed to admin@library20.com.
Since 2000, Dr. Steve Albrecht has trained thousands of library employees in 25+ states, live and online, in service, safety, and security. His programs are fast, entertaining, and provide tools that can be put to use immediately in the library workspace with all types of patrons.
In 2015, the ALA published his book, Library Security: Better Communication, Safer Facilities.
His new book, The Safe Library: Keeping Users, Staff, and Collections Secure, is published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Steve holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board-certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment.
He has written 25 books on business, security, and leadership topics. He lives in Springfield, Missouri, with six dogs and two cats.
His professional website is http://drstevealbrecht.com.
