[Publib] Verbally Abusive Patrons

[Linda Cannon]

Our staff are instructed that they do not have to accept verbal (or
other) abuse. They are instructed to inform the abuser of that fact, and
if the offender doesn't stop, they are to be told to leave the building.
We then do an incident report to create a record, and further incidents
(or a single incident, if bad enough) gets the offender a library
suspension. Further incidents get them another or a permanent ban.
Violation of a suspension/ban gets them arrested for trespass. 


Linda Cannon, Collection Development Librarian
Joplin Public Library
300 S. Main St.
Joplin, MO  64801
417-623-7953
lcannon at joplinpubliclibrary.org
http://www.joplinpubliclibrary.org 
-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Ruthann Swanson
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 12:21 PM
To: PUBLIB
Subject: [Publib] Verbally Abusive Patrons

We had a half-day in service at our library earlier this week that was
focused on safety.  One of our speakers was an officer from our local
police department.  He answered questions about just this sort of
situation (described below.)  He stressed that we don't have to take
this from the public and that we should call the police to deal with
such people. This applies to disruptive children/young adults who won't
respond to requests to cease their disruptive behavior.  Our experience
with our local police department in such situations has been very
positive.

"A patron came to the computer desk and asked for the next available
opening.

The librarian told him there was an opening at 2:15. The man said "what

time?" and the librarian said in a louder voice 2:15. The man went

ballistic. He told the librarian that he did not need to yell at him.
The

librarian was very calm and said "sir, I wasn't yelling, I was just
giving

you your time slot." The man continued to yell at the librarian about
this

and that, and then he threw in a couple of cuss words. The computer

librarian tried to keep him calm but he just didn't stop ranting.

In your experience, what would you have done and/or what do your
policies

state? This is a continuing problem for us."

Ruthann Swanson
Library Director
Alsip-Merrionette Park Public Library
11960 S. Pulaski Rd.
Alsip, IL 60561
Phone:  708-371-5666
Fax:  708-371-5672
E-mail:  rswanson at sslic.net




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