3M 500 Reviewofyourlibraryssecuritypolicies, Whattodowhenthealarmsounds

Trainingyourstaff

Reviewofyourlibrary’ssecuritypolicies

Beforepracticinghowtorespondtoalarms,staffshouldbefamiliarwiththelibrary’ssecuritypoliciesastheyrelatetotheftof

materials.T ohelpstaffstayinformedofsecuritymeasures,yourpolicyshouldbeinwritingandkeptwithyourtrainingkit

alongwithanyotherproceduresyoufollow.

Itisparticularlyimportantforstaffmemberstoknowwhatproceduresthelibraryfollowswhentheftissuspectedorwhenit

isnecessarytocontactalocallawenforcementagency.

Acriticalphaseofstafftrainingconcernstheproperstepstotakewhenthesecuritysystemalarmsounds.Thevalueoftact

andcourtesywhenhandlingthisdelicatesituationcannotbeoveremphasized.Y ourstaffmembersshouldreceiveasmuch

preparationaspossibletomakethemfeelcomfortable.Withthepropertraining,yourstaffwillbemorelikelytoeffectively

dealwithpatronswhoactivatethealarm.

Whattodowhenthealarmsounds

Thefollowingstepsaresuggestedproceduresonly.W erecommendthatallstaffdevelopacompleteunderstandingofthe

library’spoliciesandfollowthemasdirected.Theresponseshouldbeconsistentforallpatronscaughtinanalarm.Itisalso

importantthatstaffbecomefamiliarwithstateandlocallawsgoverningpatrons’rightsandresponsibilities.

Respondingtoalarmsisasensitivesituationbutcanbehandledconfidentlyandeffectivelyaslongasyourlibraryhas

establishedproceduresandyourstaffmembersarefullytrainedinfollowingthem.

First,don’tpanic.Remaincalmandcourteous.Youcan’tbepositivethatthepersonwhotriggeredthealarmisstealing.Never

accuseanyoneoftheftbyword,byfacialexpression,orbytoneofvoice.Thealarmmayhavebeentriggeredaccidentally,

soalwaysrespondinapositive,non-threateningmanner .

AlarmScenario1

Thelibrarystaffdoesnotdesensitizeataggeditemwhencheckingoutthepatr on’ smaterials,orthepatronaccidentally

removesmarkedmaterialsfromthelibrary.

Afteraskingthepatrontoreturntothecounter,atypicalresponsemightbe,"Excuseme,didIforgettocheckoutoneofyour

items?"or"Didyouperhapspickuponeofthelibrary’sbookswithyourownthings?”Thesearecourteousquestions,and

theydon’taccusethepatronoftheft.Besuretosmileandaskthequestionsinafriendly,non-threateningmanner.

Processanddesensitizeallitemsagain.Ifyoudiscoveranitemthathasn’tbeenproperlycheckedout,neveraccusethepatron

ofstealing.Simplyactasiftheerrorwasanoversight—itmorethanlikelywas.Ifthepatroncausesthealarmtosoundagain,

followthepolicythatyourlibraryhasestablishedforpossibletheftofmaterials.

AlarmScenario2

Apatrondenieshavinganylibrarymaterialsorrunsoutofthelibraryaftersoundingthealarm.

Followyourlibrary’spolicyfortheft.