Sunday, September 8, 2019

Sexual Harassment of Library Staff: Webinar by Dr. Steve Albrecht

Finally some training on sexual harassment of library staff that directly addresses sexual harassment of librarians by library patrons and how library management responds.  I will attend this training to see if it directly mentions viewing of Internet p-rn as a cause.

Recall ALA calls that "dubious" and says in never really happens.  Recall librarians so fear their management after being sexually harassed by p-rn-viewing patrons that they are constructively discharged and fear saying anything for years.

In the meantime, below is where I learned about this opportunity, and I'm reprinting it here so you can learn about it as well and perhaps join.

Follow @DrSteveAlbrecht and @stevehargadon.




WEBINAR: Sexual Harassment of Library Staff


"SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF LIBRARY STAFF: RESPONDING TO INCIDENTS BY PATRONS OR OTHERS"

A 60-minute webinar, recorded in a special Library 2.0 series with Dr. Steve Albrecht, held live on Tuesday, September 17th, 2019, at 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. 

Register to attend live or to have access to the recordings by clicking on the JOIN WEBINAR button to the top right. You will need to be logged into Library 2.0--if you are not yet a member, you can join for free here.

OVERVIEW: The following questions come up in libraries around the country: “Why didn’t you tell your boss you were being sexually or racially harassed by a patron? Do your co-workers know about this? Why did you wait so long to report this? Can we ban a patron for this type of repeated behavior?”

The short answers are: “I was afraid or embarrassed”; “Yes, and they have their own stories to tell about being harassed”; “I didn’t want to cause problems; I just wanted it to stop”; and “Yes!”

Library staff members have the right to work in a workplace environment where the directors, managers, and supervisors: pay attention to harassment situations; listen to employee concerns; intervene and investigate as necessary; and use various HR or Code of Conduct-related tools, based on the severity of the incidents, to stop the problem.

Library leaders must create the kind of culture where employees aren’t afraid of or are unsure of how to report patron harassment; to help to manage staff fears on this issue; and be ready to take the right steps on behalf of their staffs. Staff members must have the courage to know how and when to tell their bosses (or HR, or their city/county/agency attorneys, among others) if they are being harassed by other patrons. In other words, we can’t fix what we don’t know about.

This 60-minute webinar-based training program is suitable for all library directors, managers, supervisors, and (full and part-time) employees.

KEY LEARNING POINTS DURING THE WEBINAR:

  • Pre-Quiz
  • The Big Picture: Boundaries, Behaviors, Support, and Consequences
  • The New Workplace: Expanding the Concept of “Protected Classes”
  • Hostile Work Environment Examples
  • Multiple Channels of Reporting
  • Harassment and Bullying by Patrons: Enough is Enough
  • When Does Flirting Go Too Far?
  • Stalking or Staring Behaviors by Patrons
  • Reviewing Your Agency Policy
  • Defining Sexual and Racial Harassment
  • Quid Pro Quo Harassment
  • Defining Workplace Bullying
  • The Perils of Gossip
  • Organizational Red Flags
  • The Supervisor’s Intervention Process
  • The Employee’s Reporting Process: Having the Courage to Tell the Truth
  • Avoiding Litigation
  • Safe E-Mail and Social Media Usage

COST: $99/person - includes access to the recording and access to the attendee discussion forum. For group discounts, to submit a purchase order, or for any registration difficulties or questions, email steve@learningrevolution.com.

TO REGISTER: Click on the JOIN WEBINAR button to the top right. You will first need to be a member of Library 2.0 (free) and be logged in. Please click "Sign Up" on the top right and we'll approve you quickly.



DR. STEVE ALBRECHT 

DR. STEVE ALBRECHT

As a trainer, speaker, author, and consultant, Dr. Steve Albrecht is internationally known for his expertise in high-risk HR issues. He specializes in workplace and school violence awareness and crisis response programs for private-sector firms, municipal and state government, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities. His clients include the two biggest municipal insurers in California.

In 1994, Dr. Albrecht co-wrote Ticking Bombs: Defusing Violence in the Workplace, one of the first business books on workplace violence. Besides his work as a conference presenter and keynote speaker, he appears in the media and on the Internet, as a source on workplace violence, security, and crime. His 21 business and police books include Library Security; Tough Training Topics; Added Value Negotiating; Service, Service, Service!; and Fear and Violence on the Job.

He holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board-certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Sunshine Week: FOIA Libraries Where Library Patrons May Have Sexually Harassed Librarians

Sunshine Week 2019 is March 10-16.  Sexual Harassment of Librarians is participating in Sunshine Week as a way of encouraging people to file requests under open government laws for records related to the sexual harassment of librarians and library employees as caused by pornography-viewing patrons.  I'll give an example FOIA request below.

Times up for librarians too, but they fear speaking up because their own library association bullies them into silence for fear that negative publicity would harm library funding drives, such as #FundLibraries.

You see, the American Library Association [ALA] recommends policy that, when implemented in local libraries, facilitates pornography viewing despite the law.  To be clear, according to United States v. American Library Association, 539 U.S. 194 (2003), while there may be a First Amendment right to view pornography in the public square, that right does not extend to public libraries.  Were libraries to use Internet filters and keep them properly maintained, negative consequences of being the neighborhood free porn show would be precluded.  And so you know, the ALA-recommended solutions of privacy screens and moving the furniture only made the problems worse, the US v. ALA Court found.

ALA misleads librarians / governments / communities by saying only child pornography and obscenity is illegal (besides material harmful to minors), but only a judge can determine that, and only on a case by case basis of the multimillions of web sites available—completely ignoring that the issue is Internet porn in libraries, not what's already been asked and answered in older cases.  ALA even says librarians have never been sexually harassed nor will they ever be harassed by porn-viewing patrons since sexual harassment is supposedly so hard to prove.  So much for believe all women.  As a result, even in a #MeToo #TimesUp #BelieveAllWomen environment, many librarians still work in sexually hostile work environments.

Library covering up child porn viewing earns
"Intellectual Freedom" award.
ALA policy is so egregious that it even recommends covering up the viewing of child pornography.  When I and others revealed publicly where ALA made that guidance public, ALA simply replaced the page with an older version.  ALA appeared multiple times in a library that covered up that crime to support the cover up.  ALA even had the library that covered up child pornography awarded for protecting "intellectual freedom."  At a public awards ceremony to present the award to the library, ALA blocked from admittance the man who uncovered the crime with his friend even though he paid admittance fees.  ALA even mocked the man for being gay and questioned why a woman would let her small children around a gay man.  See, "Gay Hate @ Your Library," for which I was sued in federal court on advice of ALA to force me to censor my reporting on ALA's homophobia.  The library spent $480,000 fighting open records and open meetings laws!  An entire book was written about this debacle, and it could be considered the Bible of FOIA requests.

So below I present an example of the filing of a Freedom of Information Act request for information about the sexual harassment of librarians.  It is important I do this so others see how easy it is to do since I'm literally the only person making such requests on a national scale.

Notice I FOIA the city government, police, and the library itself as all may have relevant records, and cross checking all sources might provide the most accurate result, especially in an atmosphere where ALA advises libraries to destroy public records of such incidents, as you will see below.

Hat tip to National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) that provides a list of sample FOIA requests for various states.  Follow @NFOIC.

And if you are a sexually harassed librarian or library employee, see, "Librarians Report Sexual Harassment by Library Patrons Here."  Already reports are coming in and I'm investigating.

Happy Sunshine Week 2019!



Dear Records Custodian,

Under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., I am requesting an opportunity to obtain copies of public records that provide any information in your possession about 1) the viewing of pornography/obscenity on Summit Public Library computers ( https://www.summitlibrary.org/ ), which may include Police Department records or records made by other municipal sections such as the Common Council and including the library and the library board itself, including 2) any responses made by anyone representing the library in any capacity, and 3) any records about how investigations of or related to the viewing of pornography / obscenity on said computers were thwarted in any way, including by library policies to delete public records in violation of public records retention laws, such as Internet browser histories that should be retained as public records and made available for legal police inspection, or by statements that First Amendment rights apply to the viewing of pornography / obscenity on said computers.  Finally, 4) provide any records about any sexual harassment in said library of any librarian, library employee, library manager, library trustee, library volunteer, etc., that is in any way related to the viewing of pornography / obscenity on said computers by anyone, including patrons and other librarians.  5) This OPRA request includes a request for any legal bills relating to any documents being produced under this request.  This OPRA request does not pertain to pornography / obscenity in printed paper form unless said form resulted from print out obtained by the viewing of pornography / obscenity on said computers.

I have learned that there have been at least two of such incidents of the viewing of pornography / obscenity on computers at said library.  One incident included a young child viewing pornography being viewed by an adult.  I have further learned that said library falsely excused such viewing as a First Amendment right, thereby inducing police to stop investigating further.  There is no such right ever since United States v. American Library Association, 539 U.S. 194 (2003). ( http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/539/194.html )

If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me if the cost will exceed $20.  However, I would also like to request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of how libraries mislead the public with false claims of a First Amendment right to view pornography on public library computers, thereby harming communities, including employees who serve the community.  For example, librarians are exposed to sexually hostile work environments; patrons including children are exposed to obscenity, and libraries, library managers, library trustees, and municipalities may be guilty of 2C:34-4, “Public communication of obscenity,” since they know there is no First Amendment right to view obscenity (defined in 2C:34-2) on computers in public libraries yet say there is or that there’s nothing they can do about it and enable such activity that harms librarians and patrons and exposes the library and the municipality to liability.  Having a public policy that expressly disclaims liability for both the library and the municipality for harm caused by the viewing of obscenity ( https://www.summitlibrary.org/about/library-policy#internet-policy ) does not negate the law.  

Such information as I uncover under this OPRA request will be published by me on my SafeLibraries publication or my Sexual Harassment of Librarians publication, depending on what is found, as I am a representative of the news media and my request is for news gathering purposes.  Indeed, I am the only source for sexually harassed librarians—by patrons viewing pornography / obscenity on computers—to speak out publicly yet anonymously ( https://www.librarians.cc/2019/01/librarians-report-sexual-harassment.html ) since the American Library Association repeatedly states such incidents never happen—since it is ALA policy guidance that public libraries follow that largely causes the problem in the first place.  That policy guidance is applied in Summit: “The Summit Free Public Library adheres to the principles of intellectual freedom, adopted by the American Library Association, as expressed in the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read and Freedom to View Statements.” ( https://summitlibrary.org/about/library-policy#collection-development-policy and https://summitlibrary.org/images/ALA_Freedom_to_View_statement.docx which incorrectly states, “The FREEDOM TO VIEW, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” ever since United States v. American Library Association cited above that expressly sets public libraries apart from other public fora. )

Such incidents usually go unreported in the media so my request is all the more significant.  Indeed I could find no media reports on any such incident in the library, yet here is a desperate mother who tried to bring attention to the issue:  “New Jersey State Legislature: Pass a law making it illegal to display obscene material to a minor” ( https://www.change.org/p/new-jersey-state-legislature-pass-a-law-making-it-illegal-to-display-obscene-material-to-a-minor

Any information I uncover via this OPRA request is not being sought for commercial purposes.
The New Jersey Open Public Records Act requires a response time of seven business days.  If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than this amount of time, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.
If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

I ask that you send the requested documents in PDF format so they may be easily attached to an email, with the exception of photographs (that should be JPEG), audio files (that should be MP3), and video (that should be MP4 or MOV video files). If the document files are too large to transmit in one single email, I authorize you to transmit them to me either via a free file sharing service such as DropBox or via multiple emails (as many as required to send all of the documents requested). 

Where emails are involved, also provide the BCC as well as the CC and the TO. As you may know, BCC is for the convenience of the sender, not for circumventing public information laws. If senders / recipients include distribution lists, then please provide the document that lists the individual recipient email addresses in any distribution list; again, distribution lists are for the convenience of the sender, not for circumventing the law. 

Further, if any public business has been conducted via the use of personal emails, then please provide those emails as well. Conducting public business on personal emails is not a valid means for circumventing OPRA.  I have previously obtained emails written from personal email addresses, such as when the now Acting Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom ordered librarians to destroy public records precisely to hide them from open government record requests: “Subject: URGENT -­ must delete all documents related to 17 Dec crisis communications workshop .… Remove these from your servers today and destroy hard copies. This is an attempt by two individuals to obtain privileged information …. we cannot allow anything from 17 Dec to be produced in response to FOIA.” ( https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2018/04/librarians-ordered-to-destroy.html )

Any document written or recorded is included as well. That includes voice mails, audio recordings, transcripts or minutes of any public portion of any public meeting.

Thank you for considering my request.



The Sunshine Week logos and icon are federally registered trademarks owned by the American Society of News Editors (ASNE).  ASNE allows interested individuals or groups to use these logos subject to a limited, non-transferrable, royalty free, revocable, nonexclusive license in any medium, subject to various licensing terms to which Sexual Harassment of Librarians adheres.

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Citation:
"Sunshine Week: FOIA Libraries Where Library Patrons May Have Sexually Harassed Librarians," by Dan Kleinman, Sexual Harassment of Libraries, 10 March 2019.

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Saturday, January 26, 2019

Librarians Report Sexual Harassment by Library Patrons Here

Librarians may now report sexual harassment by library patrons via a secure and confidential email to SafeLibraries@pm.me.  Security is provided by ProtonMail.  Confidentiality is provided by me.  I will then take your report, edit it for anonymity, then post it here for others to see.  When enough people see this as the big problem it is, only then will something be done.  It's why American Library Association's [ALA] Office for Intellectual Freedom [OIF] counts fake book "bans."  No one counts real incidents of sexual harassment of librarians caused by viewing of inappropriate material on library computers.

Be clear the purpose of this is to provide space to be heard anonymously on this topic.

I realize I have detractors who will be very vocal precisely to stop people from reporting on this topic.  The less is known the better for those who cause the problem in the first place.  So to email me you'll first have to get over the fake news about me.

Recently a prominent librarian trainer said about me, after I suggested he raise the issue of sexual harassment at the ALA Midwinter meeting #alamw19, that I was "a dumpster fire of a human being" and I have "shitty behavior because [I'm] a bad person."  "You don't care about the issues you raise. You only care giving your otherwise meaningless and pathetic life some kind of meaning."  This is the kind of headwind you'll have to set aside should you decide to contact me with your stories no one else will hear but for me.

Linda Zec
ALA certainly will not hear nor publish your stories.  The former leader of OIF, James LaRue, said it's "dubious" any librarians are ever sexually harassed, and the current acting director of OIF, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., said librarians have never been and never will be sexually harassed by library patrons viewing inappropriate material since such cases are so hard to prove.  See:
And that's exactly why ALA doesn't want to count the incidents or publicize them.  But I will.

I'll take your reports and publish them here at "Sexual Harassment of Librarians" for all to see, all while maintaining your security and confidentiality.  Publishing these stories will effect positive change.  On the other hand, ALA says, almost literally, "nothing to see here, move along."

"If you don't like it leave."
The same man who attacked me as indicated above also mocked my efforts to stop sexual harassment.  He said, "there are dozens of people working on those issues."  We all know that is false because the problem never ends.  Yes, a few raise the issue of sexual harassment of librarians by other librarians or in other contexts having nothing to do with patrons viewing unfiltered computers, but I am the only one who addresses the source: OIF pressuring libraries to provide unfiltered access.  The problem never stops precisely because no one talks about it and it's a job ender if you do.  Example:
Several librarians have been told if they don't like working in a sexually hostile environment caused by unfiltered computers made possible by OIF policy guidance, then don't let the door hit them on the behind on the way out.  My first ever post on this publication four years ago to this month was about exactly one of those situations.  See and hear in her own words:
That library employee took eight years to get over her fear of her library director who followed OIF advice.  I'm hoping my secure/confidential platform will eliminate the fear completely.  (And it's my reporting solid evidence like that video that makes me so hated by those in OIF—and loved by librarians who support me silently.)

My coauthor Kevin DuJan and I are working on a research project documenting sexual harassment of librarians and what can be done to correct this problem.  Mr. DuJan is a gay researcher and author who studied the ALA's abuses and wrote about it in "SHUT UP!: The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment," after he was attacked by the library for being a "fag" and so on because he exposed crime at a public library, which led to Linda Zec finally coming forward after eight years to describe her sexual harassment ordeal and how her management following OIF guidance treated her.

Librarians even attack other librarians (besides myself) who dare try to spread the word about the harm being done.  See:
So set aside the naysayers and I'll anonymously publish here what you send me at SafeLibraries@pm.me.  It may even be used in our book.  Times up should mean times up, not let it slide because we're afraid of ALA OIF who tells us our patrons should be allowed unfiltered Internet access and working in a sexually hostile environment is just part of the job.



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