The Safe Librarian

The Safe Librarian:
Feeling Safe and Being Safe at Work
Part of the Library 2.0 Service, Safety, and Security / Essential Librarian Series with Dr. Steve Albrecht

OVERVIEW: 

It’s hard to concentrate on your work in the library if you don’t feel physically, mentally, and emotionally safe.

Library staff can feel miserable, de-motivated, and disillusioned when confronted with patrons who have untreated mental health issues, who struggle with substance use, or who have a sense of entitlement that the library rules don’t apply to them. As most are aware, there has been a lot of talk recently about library staff quitting or leaving their jobs or even leaving the profession because of daily discomfort or fears for their safety. A job in the library dealing with the public requires being service-oriented, but also assertive; being helpful, but also with reasonable personal boundaries; and being thoughtful and aware, but safe and protected when confronted by patrons who are disruptive, disrespectful, and even moving toward dangerousness.

It is demanding work.

Librarians and staff have the right to a safe work environment, and creating that safe workspace is a collective effort. This webinar is for both the library leader who is looking to understand how to re-orient their library culture around a safe and secure environment, and for the librarian or staff member who wants to ensure their own personal physical, mental, and emotional safety in their library.

LEARNING AGENDA:

• How to develop personal physical, mental, and emotional safety habits that you can use to feel more safe and empowered while at work. 
• Individually building your situational awareness, coming to work, at work, and leaving work.
• Dealing with awkward encounters, tense conversations, and stressful situations in ways that can minimize the impact of bad behaviors from some patrons.
• Reading situations and people, quickly and fairly.
• Assessing body language, tone, demeanor, and “mixed “ signals in patrons about to erupt with threats or violence.
• Using intuition to decide how and if to approach, intervene, or support our co-workers.
• Applying de-escalation tools that are a bit “outside the box.”
• How and when to use “psychological self-defense.”
• When to disengage in the name of good common sense and personal security.
• Sharing information with colleagues and bosses about problem people, to develop better, safer responses.
• Getting better help from security officers or police when it's necessary.
• What library leaders can do to protect staff.
• How leaders can give library staff the tools necessary to report problems, develop responses, and enforce consequences for that small portion of patrons who disrespect the library space, its employees, and its users.
• How leaders can work with their Library Board, local elected and appointed leaders, and your law enforcement agency to improve library safety.

This 60-minute overview session is another in our “Essential Librarian Series,” designed to be shown to new staff and leaders and to provide a refresher for all who work in the library, and hosted by trainer, author, and library service, safety, and security expert, Dr. Steve Albrecht. A copy of the presentation slides will be available to all who participate, as well as a special training handout "The Safe Librarian."

DATE: Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 2:00 pm US - Eastern Time