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August 2nd
Handling Customer Complaints without Taking Things Personally
Handling Customer Complaints without Taking Things Personally
Location: Groesbeck Branch Library
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Groesbeck Branch Library
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
2994 W. Galbraith Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45239
Rollie Welch is the Teen Coordinator of the Cleveland Public Library system in Cleveland, Ohio. He has worked as a librarian, mostly with teens, for twenty-six years in both school and public library settings. He is a frequent presenter at regional library workshops with the Ohio Library Council.
In recent years he has served as a member of YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers selection committee, chaired VOYA’s Top Shelf for Middle School Fiction list and is currently a member of YALSA’s Best Books for Young Adults committee. He reviews for VOYA, Kirkus, Library Journal and The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.
His book, The Guy-Friendly YA Library: Serving Male Teens was published by Libraries Unlimited in May of 2007. He rarely watches TV, but does digitally record The Daily Show to start each weekday with a laugh.
Beyond promotion of services and materials to males, there are many libraries that just are not teen male friendly. Perhaps the staff over the years has developed a negative attitude about teen males based on past disruptions and unrealistic expectations of male teen behavior. The most visible displays of this attitude may be the neglect of teen male tastes with emphasis only on children, teen female, or adult materials.
A rigid atmosphere suggesting all patrons must display formal etiquette upon entering the building bewilders teen males. These methods of control, whether intentional or not, are something guys can sense immediately. At best they feel uncomfortable. At worst, they may rebel against the staff.
This workshop will examine ways to make your library more “guy-friendly” and through active and passive activities encourage teen boys to become users of the library. The reading habits of young men, tips on how to welcome teen males on advisory boards, how to present programs that appeal to guys will also be discussed.
The quarterly meeting of CARGYS, the Cincinnati Area Reading Group for Youth Services, will follow this workshop. Please stay and join us for further discussion on Guys in the Library!