Managing Challenges, Maximizing Impact:
Policies and Practices for Controversial Programming
Saturday, June 28; 10:30-11:30a.m.
Speakers:
Lesley Williams
Head of Adult Services and Muslim Journeys Project Director, Evanston (Ill.) Public Library
Martin Garnar
Chair, ALA Committee on Professional Ethics
Reference Services Librarian and Professor of Library Science, Regis University
Presented by the ALA Public Programs Office and the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Dealing with Controversy
Public Library Programs That Challenge
Lesley Williams
Common Faux Pas
•One-sided publicity efforts.
•Panel not balanced.
•No clear vision for the program.
•Weak or overly polemical speaker.
•Ignorance of topic or of speaker – no surprises!
Be Prepared!
•Know your topic.
•Know your speakers.
•Know your institutional policies.
•Know your community.
•Know the law.
Dealing with Your Administration
•Relate program to your mission.
•“All publicity is good publicity.”
•No such thing as controversy-free.
•Community connections.
Dealing with the Media
•Have an elevator speech ready.
•Anticipate the “gotcha” questions.
•Stay on topic, on message.
•Have a “cheat sheet” handout.
Handling Tough Conversations
•Acknowledge the emotions involved.
•Acknowledge the controversy.
•Don’t expect miracles.
•Demand respect.
Work with Your Speakers
•Introduce your panel.
•Highlight their background, accomplishments.
•Use their experience.
•Ask them for humanizing stories, anecdotes.
Facilitator Strategies
•Review ground rules/agreements.
•Control the mic.
•Use written questions.
•Resist shout outs.
Sample Agreements for Dialogue
•Speak only for yourself, not for your “group.”
•Allow others to finish speaking.
•Ask questions to learn, not to convince others.
•Address people by the names and terms they prefer.
•Avoid assigning beliefs or motives to others.
•What’s said in the room stays in the room.
Icebreaker Questions
•What brings you here today?
•What do you hope to get out of today’s conversations?
•Can you tell us about a time when you felt you were “the
only one” in the room, the office, the dorm. . .
•What do you love best about this town/college?
Some Key Phrases
•“Excuse me, but do you have a question?”
•“Please don’t generalize about any group.”
•“Does anyone have a different view?”
•“I appreciate your passion. Let’s give someone else the
floor.”
Keeping Everyone Safe
•Hire security, make them visible.
•Greet everyone at the door; make eye contact.
•Speak calmly, keep your voice low.
•State your expectations and enforce them.
Resources
•Public Conversations project
http://www.publicconversations.org
•20,000 Dialogues
http://www.20000dialogues.org
•Dialogue Institute of the Southwest
http://www.interfaithdialog.org
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will
defend to death your right to say it.”
Lesley Williams
Head of Adult Services, Evanston Public Library
847-448-8646
lawilliams@cityofevanston.org
www.facebook.com/crankylibrarian
www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyawilliams
Responding to Community Challenges
Martin Garnar
Goals of This Section
•Review potential scenarios and discuss options for response.
•Review resources from ALA.
•Field questions from the audience.
Scenario 1
A woman comes to the desk with one of your Muslim
Journey books and says, “We don’t have any Muslims in this
area. Why did you spend my tax dollars on this stuff?”
How do you respond?
Scenario 2
A man brandishing one of your Muslim Journey event
posters storms into your office and says “You’re promoting a
religion! That’s a violation of the separation of church and
state!”
What’s your response?
Scenario 3
A woman walks up to your desk with 25 books on
Christianity. She says that her church would like to donate
them so that they can balance out the Muslim books from
your grant.
What’s your response?
Scenario 4
After your screening of one of the Muslim Journey films, an
audience member requests that the library put on a similar
program for The Passion of The Christ.
What are the issues to consider when you respond?
Scenario 5
A man comes to your library with a list of books that are critical
of Islam and asks them to be added to your collection so that
“the other side of the story” is being told.
What are the issues to consider when you respond?
Resources from ALA: General
Intellectual Freedom Manual, http://ifmanual.org
Resources from ALA: General
Religion in American Libraries: Questions and Answers,
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/
meetingrooms/religion-q-a
ALA: Collection Development
Diversity of Collection Development: An Interpretation of the
Library Bill of Rights, http://ifmanual.org/diversecollection
ALA: Collection Development
Public Library Collection Development Policies and Intellectual
Freedom, http://ifmanual.org/plcdpif
ALA: Complaints and Media Relations
Guidelines for Responding to Complaints, http://ifmanual.org/
guidelinecomplaint
ALA: Complaints and Media Relations
Privacy Tool Kit, http://www.ala.org/advocacy/
privacyconfidentiality/toolkitsprivacy/privacy
Questions?
Contact Us
Martin Garnar
mgarnar@regis.edu; 303-964-5459
Lesley Williams
lawilliams@cityofevanston.org; 847-448-8646
Lainie Castle
lcastle@ala.org; 312-280-5055
ALA OIF
oif@ala.org; 312-280-4223
ALA PPO
publicprograms@ala.org; 312-280-5045