At my old library, I was known as a Ninja Librarian, so I attended this session with avid interest, eager to be further trained in the art of war this morning. Just kidding. Actually, my nickname was more related to a storytime I lead, rather than any martial arts skills I possess, but I really enjoyed Warren Graham’s session regardless.

Many of Graham’s points are simple and logical (be consistent, make your rules simple and clear, document, document, document, etc.) but, with all the security issues libraries face, definitely worth making and reiterating. Most interesting to me was his discussion of staff awareness (or rather, the lack thereof in many libraries with security issues). Frontline branch staff must have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the library. Some good customer service practices, like greeting people when they enter the building, are also good security practices. He advised having staff do a 30-30-30 exercise: For 30 days, all staff stop their work every 30 minutes to look around the library and observe what’s going on for 30 seconds. His reasoning is that after thirty days, this observing will become an ingrained practice. I would say that staff on public service desks should really be observing the library much more frequently than once every half-hour, but I like the simplicity of the exercise and I could see it being an effective way to get staff to begin to heighten their awareness.

Consistency came up over and over again — consistency in rules, enforcement, consequences, etc. A man at the circulation desk in a suit yelling needs to be treated the same way as a homeless man yelling, and as a teenager yelling. Thank you, sensei! I was so glad to hear this said — library staff should not accept bad behavior from anyone, nor should we pre-judge patrons as problems in they aren’t breaking the rules.

During the Q&A, someone asked about building relationships with police. This was a great point to bring to the forefront. Graham recommended meeting with your local police chief and educating him or her on the security issues that your library has, while also stating that you have well-trained (or, hopefully, soon-to-be-well-trained) staff who will only call when an issue truly needs to be addressed by the police. Warren also recommended building relationships with shelters and soup kitchens so you can make referrals, etc.

Thank you, sensei!

Nicole Pasini, San Mateo County Library