[Publib] Re: A hard-hearted bunch

[Robert L. Balliot]

Greetings,

I recall nothing in any library course that addressed library security
other than for books.  If you are passionate about the profession and care
about people as people rather than objectifying them, it is easy to imagine
stepping in to prevent tragedy and acting heroically.  However, without
training it may be impossible.  As a humanistic profession, we train
ourselves to try to understand points of view from all sides.  I think
the process of effectively dealing with violence is a completely different
mindset.

In a previous incarnation, I was a military advisor. The role of that
job is to train people to deal with violence and respond to it in kind.
Over time, you become desensitized to the prospect of violence. And,
from a psychological standpoint, you must be insensitive in order to
function.

In order to function effectively as a librarian, there should be a
reasonable expectation of safety. Physical, financial, and emotional.
I think that there are many things that can and should be done to
help fulfill those needs.

*************************************************
Robert L. Balliot
1-401-421-5763
Skype: RBalliot
Bristol, Rhode Island
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
*************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of Joe Schallan
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 8:03 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Re: A hard-hearted bunch

Karen Schneider wrote:

"I won't comment about other posts (including my own)
except to say that what  started this thread was a
discussion about a staff dispute at a library, and
that other people were trying to continue in this vein."

I am reminded that if good judgment were a baseball
line-up card, I'd have to have Karen Schneider at the top
of my batting order.

I'm afraid I conflated two issues -- library security
and collection development policy, though in my
defense I will point out that the two seem to have
become conflated in the conflict between some
Sacramento librarians and their managers.

One Publibber dismissed Gerald Ward's concerns
about security in a particularly flip way, and it
hit one of the few hot buttons I have.  I have worked
in several public libraries, and in none of them was
security taken seriously.  I suppose we suffer
from an aspect of that good ol' library image -- how
could a place as mild and innocuous as a library
possibly be dangerous?  This was the attitude of
at least two city police departments I have had
contact with.  One does wonder what it takes --
death on the job, severe injury, assault -- to get
this issue taken seriously.

But as Karen reminds me, I should not in any way
equate criticism of Gerald Ward with a cavalier attitude
toward workplace security, and apologize if I gave that
impression.

I'll also work on not letting one comment on a very
large and active list set me off.

Regarding the collection-development portion of
the conflation, Mark Hudson suggested some
ways to "get beyond the false 'give 'em what they
want' vs.  'obstructionist, Luddite librarians' dichotomy.
I thought his was very good advice.

And I'd ask Publibbers to consider my list of questions
about "who we are."

Library security can, and should be, another thread.

I'd like to add one more comment about
the situation that led to the slaying of my
colleague back in '92.  Not long before the crime
her obsessional ex-boyfriend had appeared in our
parking lot, leafletting all the cars with a
profanity-laced tirade against our coworker. Our
boss had one of us pull all those flyers off the
cars, but beyond that, did nothing.  He regrets
that to this day.

Most crazy acts probably will not lead to violence,
but given that we cannot easily discern real threats
from venting, I'm afraid we'll have to handle each
one of these cases seriously.  Be sure to do so if
one arises at your library.

Sadly,

Joe Schallan
Phoenix


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