Guidelines for Responding to Complaints

                                                          GOAL
To respond to the complaint in a way that will:
    * Acknowledge the right to complain
    * Show an effort to respond to the patron's needs
    * Consider alternatives
    * Stay within library policy
    * Uphold the First Amendment rights of all library users

                                                     BE PREPARED
    * Know and understand the U.S. and State Constitutional principles involved
    * Know your library’s policies
    * Know what your responsibility is
    * Know whom to refer to; the appropriate forms, etc.
    * Remember that having a book (or other material) in the collection, or
      accessible through Internet or interlibrary loan, does not mean that you or
      the library endorses it
    * Seek to understand why people complain about library materials or services
    * Seek to acknowledge what is offensive to ourselves and prepare ourselves
       to deal with it.

                               THINGS TO DO (if appropriate & possible)
    * Listen carefully to the complaint
    * Establish a common ground
    * Demonstrate respect for the patron's values, beliefs, opinions
    * Treat the complaint seriously
    * Be polite - even in response to rudeness or attack
    * Offer assistance in finding something that will meet the patron's needs
    * Suggest the consequences of granting government (the library) the right to
       censor (complainers have rarely considered that someone who would
       censor what they want to read may take control)
    * Explain the library's complaint policy, procedure & process
    * Thank the person for expressing interest in the library or for being involved
       with their child’s reading and use of the library
    *  Provide information about next step available if not satisfactorily resolved

                                             THINGS TO AVOID
    * Attack, intimidation, escalation
    * Defensiveness (words or body language)
    * Overreaction
    * Philosophical debate
    * Defense of literary quality (defend place in collection)
    * Quoting policy as the only response
    * Compromising library policy or the principles of intellectual freedom upon
      which this country is based.

You are free to use this document for any non-commercial purpose. Please attribute it.

Candace Morgan (cd_df_morgan@msn.com) 9/09