I have started another public service campaign in my library, linked to this broader one. Reminded of the threat of fire, I use this to prompt me to review my library’s emergency plan. Each year I re-read my plan, reflecting back on the past year not only in my library, but in the world. I consider if there has been any significant events that indicate I need to alter or add to my plan. For example, for a number of years tornadoes were unheard of in my region. Then, in one year, we had several touchdowns. That year, I added tornadoes to the plan. Most importantly, I examine names and phone numbers. In this world of competing cell phone plans, contact information can change. So, each October I make sure all names and phone numbers are accurate and up to date.

At the same time, I update my staff phone list. Working off a spreadsheet, I update the people who typically work on a given day along with their phone numbers and emergency contact. I then verify the information for who to notify in case of weather related closing. For ease, I also include the contact information for some other key players for the library: the head of facilities, the book keeper, the janitorial staff, and the head of the library board. This information is then assembled into a packet. I take home a packet and provide copies to key staff. One copy remains in the library.

Over the years, I have never needed to utilize the emergency plan. Though we once did have a car drive six feet into our building. That year, car accident was added to the plan, just in case it happened again. I have however, frequently appreciated my snow packet.  Having everything in one place is convenient, but having the contact list also sorted by work schedule has avoided many mishaps when the concerns of weather closings were distracting. I believe most libraries have these important documents, but linking an annual review of the information to something has helped us assure that these documents get updated.

The post Don’t Forget Your Emergency Plan first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Your library staff and patrons deserve the security of mind that comes with a security team. They can help with:

• Regulating unruly customers.
  As painful as it is to admit, not all who walk into the library are looking to enrich their lives peacefully. Fortunately, a good security worker can defuse a situation before it gets out of hand, whether it’s ejecting someone who is intoxicated or helping a lost child find their parent.
• Keeping buildings and collections up to safety codes
  In conjunction with maintenance staff, security officers also work with local safety officials to make sure all areas of the library (including physical storage areas) comply with fire codes and any other physical safety measures that must be taken, whatever the shape of the building.
• Protecting both patrons and employees during emergencies
  Ideally, all staff would know exactly what to do in case of a sudden fire, structural collapse, tornado, or on-the-job injury. Security workers strive toward that optimism while staying alert to the busy realities of everyday work life. They are there not only for direction and guidance during a real disaster but may also provide training or disaster drills.
• Coordinating and updating building access.
  As the eyes and ears of the library, security officers are in charge of the flow between the public and staff-only areas. This includes keeping updated, ongoing records of new and exiting employees—including volunteers, staff from other locations, members present for library board meetings, and cleaning, construction, or other third-party workers—not only to make sure only those authorized are coming and going but also to track where keys and access cards are at all times. In conjunction with human resources or on its own, the safety and security office can help keep the library’s backstage free and clear of trespassers.

Library security is an often-overlooked but incredibly important job on both a day-to-day and big-picture basis.

Further Reading:

Griffin, Melanie. “I’m Not Actually a Librarian: Volunteer Coordinator.” Public Libraries Online. January 15, 2016.

The post Safety & Security Workers Are An Integral Part of Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

If anyone doubts that libraries respond to their communities in times of emergencies, the Ferguson Municipal Public Library remained the one calming and stable constant in this Missouri town’s tumultuous life as schools, businesses, and other government agencies closed after the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown.

Even when sometimes violent protests erupted, the only librarian on staff, Scott Bonner, kept the library doors open. And when he reached out for help via social networking, many volunteers as well as supporters around the nation joined him in preserving the one glimmer of light during a very dark time in this community.

Although Bonner had only assumed his position in July, he had already developed a relationship with local businesses and the community by opening the library as a meeting space. During a recent interview Bonner explained he had “a very broad definition of librarianship.” [2] That’s why the Small Business Administration, through Bonner’s invitation, had previously used the Ferguson Library as a staging point to meet with business owners affected by storm damage in order to offer emergency loans.

As Ferguson’s sole librarian with a staff of several part-time librarian assistants and one part-time administrative assistant, Bonner operates in much the same way as many small public library directors.  Bonner wears many hats, library director, children’s librarian, reference librarian, all rolled into one.

In August, however, he could never have anticipated how broadly he would define that concept of librarianship, and as a result, elevated that concept, too.

As SWAT team police officers swarmed the streets of this divided community, the news media from around the world occupied every inch of space in this small town, and the Governor of Missouri declared a state of emergency, Bonner made the decision to keep the library open and hung this sign in its window instead:

During difficult times

The library is a quiet oasis

Where we can catch our

Breath, learn and think

About what to do next.

Please help to keep our oasis

Peaceful and serene.

Thank you.[3]

When area schools closed, with the help of volunteers, the library offered classes to up to 200 school children with nowhere else to go.[4] It offered computer access to residents who had none. It offered the news media a place of respite. With the help of some volunteers, Bonner created healing kits for children.

In one of many interviews, Bonner conceded that “if I had any sense, I should have shut down.” Yet he has continued to deliver an important message about libraries and being a librarian.  He emphasizes that what he did was “not notable, just noticeable”.[5]

In interview after interview, Bonner reveals the character, values, and strength of conviction that shaped his decision to remain open and that also shape his role as a librarian.  As he responds to the many questions asked about his decision, his responses always speak to the need to serve the community, to provide information services, and to foster free and open communication.[6]

In an interview with BuzzFeed, he explained that “this is totally, exactly, right in the wheel house of what any library does, what every library does. We have a dramatic moment, and a dramatic circumstance caught the nation’s attention, but this is exactly what libraries do every day.”[7]

Ashley Ford of BuzzFeed tweeted that the Ferguson library would be open and solicited donations.  “We all know that books save lives, please donate…”  Saves lives.  That resonated with the world in the midst of a town infuriated by the loss of life. Authors Neil Gaiman and John Greene joined her as did Reading for Rainbows.  It seemed that everyone admired this little library’s courage.

Donations keep coming in. Right now, donations exceed Ferguson’s $400,000 yearly operating budget. Bonner looks forward to hiring a Children’s Librarian this year.

Angie Manfredi, head of youth services for Los Alamos County Library System, NM, started a Twitter campaign soliciting books for the library. She created a wish list for FMPL on Powell’s,[8]

“Thanks to her efforts, we’re going to have one of the strongest collections in the state for civic engagement, civil rights history, and recovering from trauma,” beams Bonner.

No one can dispute his courage during the chaos and conflict in Ferguson.  Buildings burned several blocks from the library building and the doors still remained open.

As a librarian, Bonner’s courage extended well beyond physically opening those doors.  His actions, along with his insights about librarianship might have opened minds about the role of libraries.  It certainly highlighted the important role the Ferguson library played in the lives of that community in crisis.

One little library, one big librarian, one shared vision and dream:  Libraries can transform lives. They serve communities.Every day.

References

[1] Bonner, Scott. 2014. Twitter message from Ferguson Municipal Public Library. (#Ferguson Library@ferguson library). August 15, 2014, 6:07 PM.

[2] An Interview with Scott Bonner. (2014, January 1). (2014, January 1). The Magpie Librarian: a librarian’s guide to modern life and etiquette. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from Magpielibrarian.wordpress.com

[3]Ibid.

[4] Axelrad, J. (2014, December 10). Ferguson library, a community pillar during unrest, gets $350,000 in donations (video). The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2014/1210/Ferguson-library-a-community-pillar-during-unrest-gets-350-000-in-donations-video

[5] Miller, R. (2014, September 15). It’s What We Do: Service and sanctuary in Ferguson. Library Journal. Retrieved December 17, 2014 from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/09/opinion/editorial/its-what-we-do-service-and-sanctuary-in-ferguson-editorial/

[6] An Interview with Scott Bonner. (2014, January 1). (2014, January 1). The Magpie Librarian: a librarian’s guide to modern life and etiquette. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from Magpielibrarian.wordpress.com

[7] Ford, A. (2014, November 25). Buzz Feed Books. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tag/books

[8] Axelrad, J. (2014, December 10).

Cover Photo Credit: Loavesofbread (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The post The Little Library That Lent a Hand: Ferguson Municipal Public Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.