Regular readers will know I often find something to share from Seth Godin’s blog. Today he had a great post about Lessons from very tiny businesses. Many of them don’t apply to public libraries, but the final line of the post most certain does:
“So, don’t pretend you have a policy. Just be human.”
How often do libraries hide behind their procedures and policies when a small and simple change would mean the world to one patron, one transaction. How did we stop being human and start to cling to policies instead?
Now, of course policies have their place. They are there to lean on, support you, but they should also be open enough to allow interpretation and real service to happen. We should not be bound by our policies nor should we use them as shields. They should be written with flexibility and humans in mind.
How about some examples?
What happens when a blizzard hits and people can’t get to the library the day before? Do you fine people for late materials? I’d bet not!
Now. What happens when one person has something horrid happen in their lives and can’t get to the library. Do you fine them? Probably some of you do.
Now. How about when a person wants to continue using the library but has too many fines. They can’t afford to pay them off. But they can pay in installments. Do they gain access to checking out items while the payments are being made? I’d bet not. But if they do, I applaud you!
Fines are just one obvious place to be more lenient, more human. The same could be said of many of our services. Where can we be flexible? Where can we be human?
We need policies that give our staff credit for being human, understanding and offers them the ability to bend if not outright break our policies when it is warranted. That my friends is radical trust in a nutshell. And it takes leadership at the library that stands behind staff and community before standing behind policy.
