Procedures

1. Handling and reporting other unusual incidents or "problem users."
   Unusual incidents involving library customer violations of policy AL 320 Rules of Conduct should be handled according to the procedures outlined in AL 320.1 Responding to Disruptive Conduct.
2. Handling and reporting obvious or attempted criminal acts.
   
   1. Police (or a security guard, if available) should be notified immediately by the library staff member who witnesses or is a victim of a crime--or by his or her supervisor if this would create no unreasonable delay.
   2. Library employees who are witnesses to, or victims of, a crime should confer with their immediate supervisors and complete and submit a Report of Unusual Incident, as instructed on the form, as soon as possible.
   3. Library employees most directly involved in the incident are expected to sign a complaint against offenders and to agree to testify in court if requested.
3. Handling and reporting telephoned bomb threats.
   Although tactics may vary from incident to incident and from one library agency to another and specific memoranda from the library administration may be issued from time to time with precise instructions, the following general procedures should be followed when a bomb threat is received:
   
   1. Never assume the call is a hoax. This is for the police to decide after investigation. Operate on the following principles:
      • Protection of life
      • Protection of public property.
      • Punishment of the offender, hoaxer or not.
   2. The person receiving the call should immediately notify a security guard, if available, or the supervisor on duty, and relay any information received (noting the time the call came in, whether the voice was male, female, aged or young, whether the caller listed a location for the bomb, when it is supposed to go off, etc.).
   3. The police should then be notified.
   4. The supervisor on duty (or the person who received the call, if the supervisor is not available) should then immediately notify the other persons in the library (staff and public) via the public address system or the most expedient means possible to evacuate the building, if evacuation is necessary. Avoid panic. Remain as calm as possible, and ask the people in the building to avoid running. Each agency head should be familiar with the building's evacuation plan, and the library should have a pre-arranged assembly place for the staff outside the library. All staff should report to their supervisor there.
   5. Close all doors (but do not lock them).
   6. The supervisor on duty should make sure the building is secure (all others have evacuated the premises) and then wait outside for the police to arrive.
   7. When the police declare that all is clear and that it is safe to go back into the building, the supervisor should decide whether to resume the normal library schedule or to close the library for the day (if less than 30 minutes remain until closing time).
   8. As soon as possible, the supervisor on duty should complete and submit MLS Form Report of Unusual Incident, as instructed on the form.
4. Handling and reporting fires.
   
   1. Stay calm.
   2. Pull fire alarm if available.
   3. Customers and staff in the building should be notified that there is a fire and that everyone should move toward the exits and away from smoke. This should be done in a calm but firm voice. If there is an elevator in the building, all persons should be notified not to use it, but to use the stairs.
   4. If fire is small, contained and smoke is minimal, volunteer may try fire extinguisher but SAFETY is first priority - at first sign of spread, LEAVE. Clear the building of all persons, closing doors as the building is being evacuated (but do not lock the doors).
   5. Exit the building entirely.
   6. Staff should gather at a pre-arranged assembly site outside the building and report to supervisor.
   7. If the fire department declares that all is clear and that it is safe to go back into the building, the supervisor on duty should decide whether to resume the normal library schedule or to close the library for the day (if less than 30 minutes remain until closing time).
   8. As soon as possible, the supervisor on duty should complete and submit MLS Form Report of Unusual Incident as instructed on the form.
5. Responding to tornado warnings in immediate vicinity.
   
   1. All agencies should identify "safe areas" in the building; for example, the Downtown Library basement. Stairways, restrooms and other places away from windows may also serve as "safe areas."
   2. Staff should alert customers to the emergency and direct them to "safe areas" within the building. If a customer refuses to go to a "safe area" and insists on leaving the building, escort him or her to the nearest exit.
   3. Staff and customers in a bookmobile should not remain there when a tornado or other extremely strong windstorm is near. They should lock it and depart for the nearest solid structure. If there is no "safe area" in the immediate vicinity, seek shelter in a ditch. (In more solid structures, even those with no obvious "safe area," however, it is generally more prudent to stay inside during a storm when there is no storm shelter available elsewhere in the vicinity.)
   4. When the "all clear" signal is given, resume operations.
6. Handling and reporting injury accidents and sudden illnesses.
   
   1. Helping victims: Library staff members are expected to help and comfort the victim of accident or illness to the best of their abilities and to call the victim's physician or the appropriate emergency medical source as quickly as possible. (Emergency numbers should be posted on or near each library telephone.)

      Customers who refuse aid should not be forced to accept it. Do not move or transport an ill or injured customer. If a vehicle accident results, you may be held liable.

   2. Reporting customer or volunteer injury accidents: As soon as possible, the library staff member in charge should complete and submit MLS Accident Notice as instructed on the form. At this point, the library staff member ordinarily will have discharged his or her responsibility to the accident victim and should thereafter decline to discuss the incident with the victim or the victim's representatives, who should be referred immediately to the Business Office at the Downtown Library, if questions arise. This office will contact the library system's liability insurance
      carrier's claim office, which will then deal directly with the accident victim or the victim's representatives, adjust medical claims and handle legal matters.
   3. Reporting an auto accident involving a MLS vehicle with or without injury: As soon as possible, the library staff member in charge should complete and submit a MLS Accident Notice as instructed on the form.
   4. Reporting staff injury accidents: WITHIN 48 HOURS, THE INJURED EMPLOYEE'S SUPERVISOR WILL SUBMIT A COMPLETED MLS FORM INJURED EMPLOYEE/ SUPERVISOR'S FIRST REPORT OF INJURY TO THE LIBRARY SYSTEM'S HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE. This form will be completed and submitted whether or not the employee had to leave the library workstation because of the injury. For more details on dealing with employee accidents, see Policy and Procedure Manual, SH 540.1 On-the-job-injuries: Workers' Compensation