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Title:
"Managing Stress and Conflict in Libraries"
Review:
While libraries are stereotyped as calm, quiet places they can also be particularly vulnerable to aggression and conflict. Dealing with members of the public, working with students experiencing stressful situations in their own lives and keeping late opening hours with reduced numbers of staff can put a strain on employees who still firmly believe in the ethos of trying to help their users. "Managing Stress and Conflict in Libraries" provides managers and staff with practical advice on what behaviours should be tolerated given the current health and safety legislation, reporting procedures, conflict resolution skills and risk assessments.
Managing Stress and Conflict in LibrariesSheila Pantry's style is eminently practical. Each chapter starts with a few bullet points indicating what it will cover and ends with a recap of the main points or, where appropriate, reflective questions to consider about the reader's own workplace environment. Helpful checklists are included throughout the text, and time-saving sample documents that could easily be adapted, such as the ratings system for reported incidents to help to identify triggers and solutions, are perfect for a practical guide.
The book's greatest strengths are its practicality and the author's obvious experience passed on in realistic advice, such as designing counters to protect staff and queue management to avoid aggression from queue jumpers. The bibliography is an extensive resource offering a good assortment of further reading. In contrast Appendix B, which lists recommended websites, feels lightweight and would have benefited greatly from brief annotations about what the site covers. For instance, the Carole Spiers Group may be unfamiliar to most readers. Appendix C reverts to a more useful format of an annotated list of advice centres, including contact details and opening hours.
The book is very up to date; URLs work as expected of a book written in 2007 and the statistics used are mostly from that year. Some concerns may be raised about the author's reliance on the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) as the recommended source of legislation throughout the book, without a disclaimer that the site only provides legislation as published. It means that there may have been amendments that were overlooked, such as the Human Rights Act of 1998, which was amended after the OPSI version was published.
As for target readership, managerial employees will be most interested in this book, but it would be a worthwhile read for all staff. The shocking instances of bullying and stress in case studies in chapter 10 are particularly compelling; managers will want to read this section and reflect on their own services. There are plenty of books about stress and bullying in the workplace but few specifically covering the library sector. Even fewer are so readable and full of practical suggestions.
FreePint Reviewer:
Mandy Webster is Library & Information Services Manager at Browne Jacobson and co-author of BIALL Handbook of Legal Information Management and Knowledge Management: Social, cultural and theoretical perspectives, along with many articles and reviews.
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