The Blackbelt Librarian: Real World Safety & Security by Warren Graham

DiBello, Amy 

Graham, Warren. (2012). The Black Belt Librarian: Real-World Safety & Security. ALA Editions. Available from: American Library Association. 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 866-746-7252; Fax: 770-280-4155; e-mail: editionsmarketing@ala.org; Web site: http://www.alaeditions.org.

I was recently transferred to a public library in the center of the city with one of the busiest bus lines. Although 99% of our patrons come here for all the right reasons, the 1% can shake up our day. However, there's book to help you with troublemakers: The Blackbelt Librarian: Real World Safety and Security by library security expert Warren Graham. Graham has traveled all over the United States, empowering the meekest librarians to take charge of their libraries and stop cowering behind the reference desk. 

Security is about more than banning problem patrons. It's about protecting your collection from theft, your peaceful patrons from harassment, and preventing your staff from becoming exhausted and embittered. This empowering book is also funny and realistic. Graham has been in the trenches with stressed out librarians and seen first hand what they're up against. He sums up his philosophy as "playing chess with the checker players" and treating everyone fairly. 

Here is how ALA sums up his book: 

Sharing expertise gleaned from more than two decades as a library security manager, Graham demonstrates that libraries can maintain their best traditions of openness and public access by creating an unobtrusive yet effective security plan. In straightforward language, the author

• Shows how to easily set clear expectations for visitors' behavior
• Presents guidelines for when and how to intervene when someone violates the code of conduct, including tips for approaching an unruly patron
• Offers instruction on keeping persistent troublemakers under control or permanently barred from the library
• Gives library staff tools for communicating effectively with its security professionals, including examples of basic documentation

The Black Belt Librarian arms librarians with the confidence and know-how they need to maintain a comfortable, productive, and safe environment for everyone in the library.

I had the pleasure of attending one of Warren Graham's workshops at the New Mexico Library Association in 2015. He had the room roaring with laughter in between role playing our most common security challenges. At one point, he even chased a librarian around the room to emphasize what he referred to as a "game over" scenario, when a librarian absolutely needs to stop negotiating and pick up the phone and call 911 instead.

Cultural Competence: A conceptual Framework for Library and Information Science Professionals

Martinez, Evelyn

Overall, P. (2009). Cultural Competence: A Conceptual Framework for Library and Information Science Professionals. The Library Quarterly, 79(2), 175-204. doi:10.1086/597080

Summary:  This article discusses the definition of cultural competence and how it relates to LIS professionals.  The author explains the importance of cultural competence in the field of LIS and how it plays a central role in meeting the needs of marginalized and underserved patrons in all types of libraries.

Evaluation/Opinion:  This an important article that should be read and examined by all LIS professionals if they wish to serve the needs of all patrons knowledgeably and equitably.

Hispanic Demographics and Implications for Media Services

Bradley, Rebecca

INFO 266

Fall 2016

Robbin, A. (2000) Hispanic Demographics and Implications for Media Services. In Immroth, B. & K. De La Peña McCook (Eds.), Library services to youth of Hispanic heritage (pp.137-153). Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Alice Robbins states close to the beginning of her essay that, “Children’s success…rests on investments that parents and society make in their children. Choices that families make and what happens inside families have a direct effect on whether children use the library.” Robbins goes on to discuss many factors that either help or hurt families, which in turns impacts how often children use libraries.

She begins by presenting information about several poverty indicators. At the time of this essay in 2000, it was clear that Latino children living with both a mother and father experienced lower levels of poverty (29%) whereas children without a father in the home suffered more poverty (67%). Again, in the late eighties the statistics given in this essay showed that nearly 30% of Hispanic children were not covered by health insurance. This percentage may have increased with President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act, but it is quite reasonable to assume that many poor immigrant Latino children do not receive the same level of healthcare as other students from wealthier families, and as a result may be less healthy overall.  Next, Robbins explores the role of language, literacy and schooling on families and children. Of particular note are statistics showing that Latino children are far less likely to be enrolled in early childhood programs and are less likely to be read to by a family member than White children. Finally, Robbins presents information showing significant drop-out rates among Latino high-schoolers and college students.

In the last section of the essay, Robbins talks about the implications of these harsh realities for librarian professionals. Robbins mentions that one goal of libraries is to “’assist cultural minorities …to become equal participants in society through access to information.’” With this idea at the forefront of the profession, one change that has occurred over the past decades has been a move away from using the library as a “conveyor and preserver of culture” towards a public institution that provides both social services and literacy programs. Robbins initially applauds these efforts, but then suddenly starts to question if they are a wise use of funds and time. 

Robbins ends by bashing bilingual education and library efforts to promote home language in order to foster literacy saying point blank, “it hasn’t worked.” She concludes that the secret to stopping the cycle of poverty among Latino families is by their children “staying in school, learning English –and learning it well. It is the only way to achieve economic self-sufficiency.” As a Spanish bilingual teacher-librarian, I see some of the pitfalls of bilingual education quite clearly, but to say that an English-only system is the only possible solution seems naïve. The complexities of learning any language are too great to simply say that all children in the United States should learn only English without regard to their background, home language, or individual needs.