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Re: response to reference hours



It is, as has been noted, essential to have policies in place. In
addition, staff should be trained to always refer problem patrons up to
the supervisor. It not only shows the complainer that the request is being
taken seriously (although the answer may still not be what was
desired) but it eases the staff member's burden.

In addition to written policies, I compiled an explanataory piece we have
made available to our users. It is called "The 'No' in Special
Collections" and is at
<http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/no.htm>. You are welcome to
borrow from it for your own instituion.

   ---Terry

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Terry Abraham   Special Collections, University of Idaho
<http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/>


On Tue, 13 Jun 2000, Carolyn Texley wrote:

> My 2 cents (and  a small digression) re: problem patrons and a reason to
> stick politely & helpfully to policies that are there to protect resource=
> s
----snip--
>
> I agree!
>
> My experience with reference (academic library & archives on occasion) is=
>
> that patrons who make large amounts of fuss and/or become verbally abusiv=
> e
> about reasonable (albeit possibly unfamiliar to them) policies  are often=
>
> doing it in order to be able to walk off with materials.  It's a pretty
> common technique  for getting people uncomfortable with &/ or untrained i=
> n
> regard to problem patrons to give them what they want.  Granted, this is
> not always the case, but who can afford the risk?  If they're intent on
> getting at your stuff, it's not possible to generate a set of policies th=
> at
> no one will ever take exception to - you'll have difficult patrons whatev=
> er
> policies you adopt.
>
> During my life at the reference desk at an art library special collection=
> ,
> we had some very valuable books disappear forever because a patron made a=
>
> scene and bullied a staff person into giving her permission to take
> room-use-only materials out overnight.   We used the sad incident to do a=
>
> staff training session on difficult patrons which helped quite a bit in
> reducing the dread/stress of something like that happening again (which i=
> s
> pretty much a certainty, eventually). =
>
>
> Just be aware that a problem patron may be making a scene simply to be ab=
> le
> to manipulate staff into making exceptions(again, to perfectly reasonable=
>
> policies). Outrage and bluster are  especially effective techniques  with=
>
> library professionals & public servants, as they're taking advantage of t=
> he
> desire on the part of the staff's professional committment to providing a=
> ll
> patrons what they need. =
>
>
> I recommend calmly sympathizing with the person's need, firmly and polite=
> ly
> outlining  the policies and sticking to them, and offering them whatever
> reasonable choices/alternatives  exist.  No need to be defensive (or even=
>
> apologetic IMHO).
>
>
> Carolyn Texley
> The Lincoln Museum
> Ft. Wayne, IN
>

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