Helping the Difficult Library Patron: New Approaches to Examining and Resolving a Long-Standing and Ongoing Problem

This insightful book shows you how to deal with an issue as old as the library profession: interacting with problem patrons. It looks at this fact of life that affects almost every facet of library work and provides practical solutions--some developed within the field and some borrowed from other professions--that will improve reference services for those you serve and make the work of your library staff less stressful, more productive, and increasingly meaningful.Helping the Difficult Library Patron: New Approaches to Examining and Resolving a Long-Standing and Ongoing Problem examines: the nature of the problem from historical and demographic perspectives ways of dealing with the problem in academic and public libraries competency-based training techniques that will empower your frontline staff the impact of new technologies such as cellular phones and the Internet and ways of dealing with the new breeds of difficult patrons that come with them solutions from our colleagues what we can learn from the perspectives of others--psychotherapists, businesspeople, and corporate managers--you even get a Zen Buddhist viewpoint! effective ways to utilize community resources such as campus and local police and much, much more! Nowhere in the library literature have so many practitioners and educators combined their efforts to examine and provide solutions to this ageless problem. Library administrators, staff, and educators will find Helping the Difficult Library Patron a matchless resource!

Table of Contents:
Introduction The Nature of the Problem: Definitions, Scope and Extent, Historical Perspectives, and Diverse Clientele Problem Patrons: All Shapes and Sizes The Problem Patron: Is There One in Your Library? The “Problem Patron” Public Libraries Created Historical Perspectives on Problem Patrons from the British Public Library Sector, 1850-1919 Difficult Library Patrons in Academe: It’s All in the Eye of the Beholder The Difficult Patron in the Academic Library: Problem Issues or Problem Patrons? Personal Safety in Library Buildings: Levels, Problems, and Solutions Old Problem for New Reasons: Overcoming the Challenge Presented by Mentally Ill Library Users “The Homosexual” as Problem Patron The Difficult Library Patron: A Selective Survey of the Current Literature The Problem Patron in the Electronic Age Do We Really Have an Internet Problem? Statistics, Credibility, and Issues Concerning Public Internet Access in Academic Libraries Problem or Challenge? Serving Library Customers that Technology Left Behind E-Problems, E-Solutions: Electronic Reference and the Problem Patron in the Academic Library The Problem Patron and the Academic Library Web Site as Virtual Reference Desk Managing the Use of Cellular Phones in a Small College Learning Resource Centre Providing Solutions to the Problem Ideas from Other Professions and the World of Library and Information Science How Psychotherapists Handle Difficult Clients: Lessons for Librarians The Common Sense of Customer Service: Employing Advice from the Trade and Popular Literature of Business to Interactions with Irate Patrons in Libraries The Customer Is Always Right: What the Business World Can Teach Us About Problem Patrons Zen and the Art of Dealing with the Difficult Patron Healing After the Unpleasant Outburst: Recovering from Incidents with Angry Library Users Gypsies, Tramps, and Rage: Coping with Difficult Patrons Help Yourself: Front-Line Defense in an Academic Library The Difficult Patron Situation: Competency-Based Training to Empower Frontline Staff Core Competencies of Front-Line Employees: The German Contribution to a New Service Culture Partnership with Community Resources—Campus Police: Revisiting Policies to Reflect the 21st Century Index Reference Notes Included