The updated Emergency Response Guide – updated as of April 2025 – is now available on the intranet. We will discuss several key points at the upcoming staff meeting.
Please have a printed copy at every service desk. Employees should read through this document carefully.
We do not have time to review the entire guide at the May 1 meeting, but still expect you all to be familiar with how to handle emergencies.
A male patron called today and asked for a number of book titles. The patron became inappropriate and staff hung up on them. This is okay. Do not feel that you need to stay on the line for this at all. This patron has called here and other libraries in the past for the same reason. They are being inappropriate.
Do not give your name. Forward to a supervisor if needed. Hanging up IS an option.
Please remember not to share out the location of patrons at the library over the phone or in person unless you receive a request from emergency personnel (ex: police, fire). Parents, friends, family members, etc may call/stop by the library and ask if someone is here. We do not disclose this information or look for the individual — the person is welcome to come to the library and do so themselves.
We cannot verify the relationship between the two parties, fully understand the nature of why they want to know if that person is at/using the library, and it goes against patron privacy.
If you receive a phone call like this and are unsure of what to do, please place them on hold and ask the Librarian in Charge, your Team Lead or Division Head. The Emergency Response Guide has instructions for how to handle these phone calls from emergency personnel.
The shelving in the Friends of the Reading Public Library turret is finally ready for use! In addition to the shelving in the turret, there are two bays (a total of 12 shelves @ 3ft wide) in the storage room for overflow books.
At the Ground Floor desk, there is a now a FOB with a sign out sheet for the Friends to access the storage room and staff lounge as they resume the operations of the Second Chapter Book Sale Room.
This FOB is for IN LIBRARY USE ONLY and should be signed out and returned to the Ground Floor desk using the clipboard sign out sheet. I am happy to make more copies if the sign out sheet is becoming full. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
What happens if you accidentally set off the building alarm when you arrive in the morning?? First, don’t panic. The alarm automatically calls the police department and a custodian. Employees should just wait and explain the error to those who respond. If you have/know your building code, the main security alarm keypad is in the vestibule at the main entrance. A secondary key pad is located at the Borrower Services Desk.
All alarms should be resolved by the police department and custodians. Even mistakes. They keep logs, stats, etc.
If you don’t know your building code, please reach out to your Department or Division Head. The Employee Handbook contains more information on p. 15.