ALA Editions Creating Policies for Results: From Chaos to Clarity (Pla Results Series)

What does a librarian do if an unattended child remains at closing time? Can nonresidents get a library card? What is the library's position on Internet filters? These are but a few of the kinds of issues that require clear, up-to-date library policies. If your staff makes decisions on the fly, if policies are nonexistent, outdated, and no one knows what they are, your library may be experiencing policy chaos. To avoid potential legal liabilities, confusion, lost opportunities and tensions among management, employees, customers, and the community at large, the answer is to create current, customized policies geared to your library. Now it's easier than ever using this one-stop, step-by-step guide that dovetails with PLA's The New Planning for Results. Covering governance and organizational structure, management policies, and services relating to customers, circulation, information, and groups, this comprehensive how-to addresses each major library area. Follow these guidelines to assess existing policies, develop new ones, and communicate all changes to improve consistency. You will learn to: Create sound and legally defensible policies; Customize policies appropriate to your library's specific mission, customers and size using proven work forms; Serve customers more effectively by updating, clarifying, and communicating new and revised policies; Address needs of a changing customer base; Create guidance and contingency plans for emergencies; Add details and enforcement procedures for as many situations as possible; A new offering in the bestselling ""...for Results"" series from PLA (that includes The New Planning for Results, Staffing for Results and Managing for Results), Creating Policies for Results is the must-have resource for creating and updating policies. No public library can afford to be without it. About the Author Sandra Nelson is a consultant, speaker, trainer, and writer specializing in public library planning and management issues. She has worked in both small and large public libraries and for two state library agencies. A well-known presenter, she has conducted hundreds of training programs in more than 40 states across the country. Nelson chaired the committee that developed the original Planning for Results: A Public Library Transformation Process, and co-authored Wired for the Future: Developing Your Library Technology Plan and Managing for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries.