Rhode Islanders are assisted by courteous, competent, committed, and well-trained staff.

Standard 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Resources

13. The library adopts a personnel policies and procedures manual that applies to full-time and part-time staff including the director and is distributed to staff. If a collective bargaining agreement exists, the manual is consistent with and addresses any issues not covered in the collective bargaining agreement. The personnel manual covers:
    
    1. an equal employment opportunity policy
    2. job descriptions and classifications
    3. employee benefits
    4. working conditions (e.g. breaks, work week, hourly rates, annual salaries, etc.)
    5. vacation and leave policies (e.g. bereavement leave, sick leave, parental and family medical leave, military leave, jury duty leave, staff development leave, leave of absence)
    6. staff development policy
    7. appointments and promotions
    8. nepotism
    9. probation periods
    10. conduct at work (e.g. dress, use of telephone, electronic mail, etc.)
    11. personnel evaluation
    12. discharge procedures
    13. grievance procedures
    14. anti-harassment policy
    15. drug-free workplace
    16. emergency closing procedures
    17. American Library Association Code of Ethics
    18. other required policies
        
14. For safety reasons, a minimum of two staff members including custodians, security staff and pages are in the building during all open hours.
15. The library/combined libraries of a city/town has a minimum of 1 FTE staff member excluding custodians, security staff and pages for each 3000 population or fraction thereof based on the 2000 census.
16. The library/combined libraries of a city/town provides staff at the following levels by population categories based on the 2000 census:
    
    

    Under 10,000	10,000 - 19,999	20,000 - 49,999	Over 50,000
    1 FTE MLS director	1 FTE MLS director	1 FTE MLS director	1 FTE MLS director
    1/2 FTE with some educational background and experience working with children assigned to children's services	1 FTE MLS professional assigned to youth services	1 FTE MLS professional assigned to children's services	1 FTE MLS professional assigned to children's services
    	1/2 FTE MLS professional assigned to reference services	1 FTE MLS professional assigned to reference services	1 FTE MLS professional assigned to reference services
    		MLS professional available to provide reference services all hours library is open	MLS professional available to provide reference services all hours library is open
    		1 MLS professional assigned to include young adult services as part of duties	1 FTE MLS professional assigned to young adult services
    			1 FTE MLS professional per 10,000 population or fraction thereof assigned to public service areas in addition to above requirements

    Note: An FTE at a library in a community with a population under 10,000 equals at least 25 hours per week. An FTE at a library in a community with a population of 10,000 and over equals at least 35 hours per week.

    Note: An MLS professional holds a library degree from a graduate library school accredited by the American Library Association or an equivalent certificate from a state that awards such certificates. In the case of combined libraries, the director of each library holds an MLS from an ALA accredited program.

17. The library provides an orientation for new employees, including a review of the personnel policies and procedures manual.
    View Tip Sheet for Standard 17.
18. The library supports the staff’s continuing education and professional activities, allocating funds for continuing education activities.
19. All professional librarians attend at least one continuing education event per year.
20. The library provides annual continuing education opportunities for its staff in customer service techniques or allows staff to attend, on work time, customer service workshops at other sites.
21. Library staff has access to Internet mail for communication and professional development. Staff has the opportunity to learn to use new equipment and technology, including new databases and software. The library has at least one computer dedicated for staff use only.

Previous Principle: Access to Materials and Services Next Principle: Management

Resources

Customer Service

Books:

McNeil, Beth. Patron Behavior in Libraries: A Handbook of Positive Approaches to Negative Behavior. ALA, 1996.

Miller, Glen. Customer Service and Innovation in Libraries. Highsmith, 1996.

Rubin, Rhea Joyce. Defusing the Angry Patron. Neal-Schuman, 2000

Smith, Kitty. Serving the Difficult Customer. Neal-Schuman, 1994.

Turner, Anne M. It Comes With the Territory: Handling Problem Situations in Libraries. McFarland, 1993.

Walters, Suzanne. Customer Service: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Neal-Schuman, 1994.

Weingand, Darlene E. Customer Service Excellence: A Guide for Librarians. ALA, 1997.

Willis, Mark R. Dealing with Difficult People in the Library. ALA, 1999.


Videos:

Customer Friendly Libraries in a High-Tech Age. LVN, 1998.

Customer Service: More Than a Smile. ALA, 1991.

Is the Customer Always Right? ALA, 1994.

Library Challenge. Neal-Schuman, 1990.

Personnel

All titles are available from the OLIS Professional Collection.