General guidelines:

• Do your best to remain calm and courteous to avoid escalating the situation.
• Do not hesitate to ask a full-time Library employee for help dealing with difficult situations.
• If you ever feel that your safety or the safety of others is at risk, call IUPD.
• Remember that users come to the Library for many reasons and on days when they might not be at their best. We must try to be understanding and respectful of all of our users at all times.
• Remember that many of our users are not familiar with how libraries work, so they may be confused or upset by things that seem very familiar and expected to you.

User is unhappy with a Library service or policy:

If the user is calmly making a complaint:

• Ask if they would like you to submit their complaint via the Library User Feedback Form.
  • You can offer to read back to them exactly what you have typed, as well as include their name and email address if they would like to be contacted by a full-time employee to discuss their complaint further.
  • After the user leaves, send an email to the Access Services Supervisor or Information Services Librarian to let them know that a complaint was submitted on the form.
• If the Access Services Supervisor or a librarian is available, ask the user if they would like to talk to a full-time employee.

If the user is agitated or upset:

• Call or send a message to the Access Services Supervisor or a librarian to ask them to come out to the desk.
• If no full-time employee is available, provide the contact information for the Dean of the Library and offer to submit their complaint via the Library User Feedback Form.

If the user is hostile and making you feel unsafe:

• Remain calm and courteous.
• Call IUPD or ask the other student assistant on duty to call IUPD.
• Find a full-time campus employee to assist.

User is violating a Library guideline, IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities & Conduct, or University Policy:

If no harm is being caused to users or employees:

• Example: Tobacco-Free University policy
• Notify the Access Services Supervisor or any full-time Library employee to handle the situation.
• If no full-time Library employee is available:
  • If you feel comfortable, approach the user and calmly ask them to cease the behavior.
    • After resolving the situation, thoroughly document the situation in an email to the Access Services Supervisor.
  • If you do not feel comfortable, thoroughly document the situation in an email to the Access Services Supervisor and Dean.

If harm is being caused, or if users or employees feel unsafe:

• Examples: User is initiating a physical fight, starting a fire, or preventing another user from exiting the building
• Call IUPD then notify Access Services Supervisor or any full-time Library employee.