The Library increasingly has become a destination of choice for students seeking a place to study and collaborate. While we are pleased to be such a popular spot for students, the increased use of the building also has been accompanied by an increase in noise-related complaints. Employees working at service desks or in other public spaces in the libraries serve as first-responders when issues arise, but all library employees are expected to help curtail disruptive behavior and enforce Library policies.

We have taken the following steps to address noise and disruptive behavior issues:  

• We have posted a condensed version of the Library Use and Conduct policy in various places throughout Bird Library,  
• We have distributed the same text as a handout to service points in all libraries,
• We have expanded supervisor coverage to ensure that there is a supervisor on duty on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings-times when previously there has not been a supervisor on duty,  
• We have implemented a data collection form and procedure to capture information about disruptive incidents to help develop longer-range strategies for dealing with these issues,   
• We have drafted procedures for library employees to follow when responding to complaints about noise or other disruptions, 
• We have asked Gerri McCarthy to conduct training sessions on these procedures for "front line" service desk staff.

The procedures are effective immediately.

Gerri McCarthy has set up discussion sessions to review updated procedures relating to handling violations of the Library Use and Conduct Policy. Staff working most closely with patrons has already been informed of this training by their supervisor, but all are welcome to attend. if you'd like to attend a session, please register through the Library Training site at libtraining.syr.edu. 

There is a new navigation link on the left hand side called "Internal Policies and Guidelines." Here you will find documents that are internal policies, procedures and guidelines meant for the library staff.      

The first procedure in the Internal Policies and Guidelines list is the new document outlining "Staff Procedures for Enforcing Library Conduct Policy" (a.k.a. Noise Procedure). The Noise Procedure references a new application that can be reached through a new link on the right side of the page under "Link Type: Application/Systems" called Complaints and Incidents. All Library Staff can log complaints or incidents they observe or hear about by clicking on this link. The main purpose of this log is for collecting data. In order to resolve the problem, please follow up with the appropriate personnel.      

The third new link is the Library Policies and Guidelines page on the Library site can be accessed through our intranet Library page by clicking the link from the right hand side under the group called "Link Type: Library Information."

Please take some time and check out these new links!

Keep your digital "vampires" from feeding at night!  

Turn off your computer when you leave for the day! Even on standby your computer is drawing power, and it doesn't take that long for it to boot up in the morning. One easy way to make sure you're not wasting energy is to plug your computer, monitor, printer, and any other peripherals you use into a single power strip. Once your computer is shut down, you can effectively unplug it and all the other pieces by turning off the power strip. That's a lot easier than unplugging everything individually and plugging them back in the next morning. Just turn the power strip back on and restart the computer.    

For more tips and resources, visit the Greening the Library blog.