Summary of the Survey of Unacceptable Behaviour in Libraries

Summary of the Survey of Incidents of Unacceptable behaviour in Australian Academic libraries

Background

On the 19th February 2008CharlesDarwinUniversity posted the survey on Unacceptable behaviour in Libraries, due 7th March. This report has been prepared by Heather Moorcroft, Reference and Information Services Coordinator.

23 responses to the Survey were received, counting CDU. Please see thecomplete list of responding libraries and their answers to questions (attached).

Responses have been summarised below. Note that most Universities have more than one campus and some Universities included different responses for their campuses and others simply noted at the end that there were differences depending on the campus, so the numbers do not always add up.

Summary

Most Universities focussed on the more serious type of incidents and perhaps this is due to the CDU response and / or the way the survey was formulated. The precise definition of “serious” or even “incident” is quite difficult to define, because what one person finds threatening, another may not.

It is interesting to note thenumber of libraries that have Panic or duress buttons at the desk.

Preamble to the Survey

We are interested in gathering information on incidents of unacceptable behaviour by clients in libraries where this impacts on staff. This may include:

Physical attacks on staff or where staff have witnessed a serious incident (or been called on as the person responsible)
Serious threats against staff or less serious threats, but where this has had a big impact on staff
Verbal abuse and/ or hostile behaviour where this has had a big impact on staff

We are interested in what processes the library has in place to deal with these and what support and training is provided for staff.

A summary to the questions

What is the process for handling such incidents (other than First Aid) in the library?

18 libraries have a process of escalating to colleagues or supervisors or the most senior person first, or if serious, directly to Campus Security and some mentioned 000.
4 out of the18 mentioned colleagues as someone to call on for help depending on the situation.
5libraries go directly to Security if the staff member cannot handle a situation.
14 libraries required library staff to fill out an incident report form.
2 mentioned that this was completed by Security if they were involved.

Does the library have a written procedure? Would you be prepared to provide us with a copy?

18 libraries have documentation of some sort, ranging from in depth, step by step instructions of what to do to a five-line document, from formal policies to informal guidelines.
9 usethe University’s procedures, policies or guidelines and the rest have developed library specific documentation.
3 did not have written procedures, but included these in training sessions.
2 are in the process of re-writing or developing procedures.

Does the library keep statistics on incidents? If so how many were there between January 2005 and December 2007?

Most libraries do not keep official or specific statistics, but can go to the Incident report forms or notes in diaries to produce stats if required and some did that for the purposes of the survey.
2 said that their Security Department kept the statistics.
2 replied in the affirmative.
The statistics provided do not show an overall increase in incidents.

If no statistics are kept, is it the informal opinion of staff that the number of incidents is increasing?

The majority of libraries did not think that incidents were increasing.
3respondents mentioned an increase mainly in verbal aggression, rudeness or demanding behaviour.
2 respondents reported a decrease inthe number of incidents, one explained this was due to the installation of swipe card access gates.

Have there been any major incidents in the library such as physical attacks on staff / other clients in the last 3 years? Please provide a brief description of what happened if possible.

8 libraries outlined serious incidents and a further seven gave examples of incidents involving security.
7 replied in the negative.
One library said the threat of physical violence prompted them to have access gate installed in 2004

Does the library have:
Security guards on campus that can be called to the library?

All respondents said “Yes”
Security cameras inside the library?
5 respondents said “Yes,”
6 said “No”
All otherssaid “Yes” for some campuses, usually the main libraryor“Yes” to only part of the library.
Adequate lighting of all areas within the library?

All libraries said “Yes” or “Generally Yes”
Panic buttons at the desk?
16 respondents said “Yes”or had them at some campuses.
3 had buzzers for extra staff back up
2 had a direct phone link to security

What training is provided for front desk staff in dealing with such incidents?

The majority of libraries mentioned Dealing with Difficult Clients training, some said it was part of the induction, some said staff were encouraged to attend and others said it was required core training. This was provided in a variety of ways, in house, by the university or externally.
6 libraries mentioned mental health training; one mentioned that it was difficult to find training
Several libraries mentioned OHS, emergency evacuation and /or disaster training
Some libraries involve Security in their training; one has a session by police, 2 have had hold-up training.
A couple of libraries mentioned cross-cultural training
One library mentioned “occupational violence”

In your opinion do staff believe that their training is adequate?

6 said No
7 said yes, but…
9 said yes

What extra training would they like?

3 mentioned Dealing with Aggressive clients and 4 Mental Health training;
Others included a run down by security recognising a potential threat; a list of instructions of what to do during an emergency and general client services and procedures

What support is provided for staff who have been very affected by an incident?

The majority of libraries provided counselling either by the University or externally; many mentioned support by peers or supervisors and 3 mentioned debriefing.
2 libraries mentioned the importance of leave

Does your Library have a student / client Code of Conduct or a list of rules regarding acceptable behaviour?

11 had a code of conduct or conditions of use or client service charter
2 said no
4 use the Uni student conduct or other policy
5 mentioned library rules or library by laws

Is the Code / Rules clearly displayed in the library? If not, is it accessible somewhere for clients to view? Would you be prepared to provide us with a copy?

10 had rules displayed in the library
10 had them displayed on the web

Anything else you would like to add?

A reluctance on behalf of staff to write up incidents was noted
Clients with Mental health issues – some repeat offenders who seemed to target staff least able to deal with them
One library noted that they were well supported by the University and would not like to create new policies and procedures
The importance of a good relationship with Security was noted

Thank you again to those who took the time to respond. I will be seeking to publish a paper on the topic in the near future.

Heather Moorcroft June 2008

Reference & Information Services Coordinator

Casuarina Campus Library

CharlesDarwinUniversity

Phone (08) 89466186

email: