Today, the safety and security of staff and customers are at the top of most library leaders' minds. Library staff are experiencing more – real or perceived – violent and threatening incidents and behaviors that engender trauma.

Library managers and staff are expected to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for staff and customers while upholding the library code of ethics and the system code of conduct and continuing to respect and defend human rights. This book is for library administrators and managers who want a common-sense approach to crisis management.

Libraries have become safe spaces during natural disasters or unprecedented flooding, fires, and mudslides. Unfortunately, crisis or emergency management is not a library school course. Library administrators and managers often feel ill-equipped to manage a crisis or emergency. Branch managers look to library administrators to guide them through emergencies; more often than not, the administrators seek guidance from local government leaders.

Written by Michelle Hamiel, a former urban library system executive who began her career as a library associate and has seen, managed, and led teams through many critical incidents, this book begins by encouraging the administrator or manager to know oneself with an eye toward their limitations, fears, biases, and what causes trauma for them. This is critical to knowing what an individual needs help with or simply cannot manage alone. It encourages the manager to be vulnerable with her/his staff to develop a strong crisis management team. One of the book's greatest assets is teaching managers how critical it is to lead and support staff through a crisis and helping great leaders understand how important it is to empower and give their staff the necessary tools to lead when the manager is unable. This book includes sample incident reporting forms, emergency procedures, and checklists.