Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Shares Insights on Incident Reporting
Charles Sutton, Social Impact Research Manager at Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library
Libraries can be busy places, where a lot can happen. Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (EVPL), located in Indiana, is no different. Like any library, disruptions, accidents, and mishaps occur daily that require the attention of administrative leadership. EVPL’s Social Impact Research Manager, Charles Sutton heads the library’s incident management efforts. He stays on top of what is occurring within the system by using Incident Reporting by Savannah®.
Originally, the library purchased Incident Reporting to document staff-related instances but recently they have found a new way to use the feature. To keep all staff on the same page, Sutton shared that the library’s main use for this tool is to now document what they call “library suspensions,” which is when a cardholder or a member of the community’s library privileges has been banned or suspended due to violations of the Customer Code of Conduct.
LIFE BEFORE INCIDENT REPORTING
Prior to employing Savannah’s incident management feature, the team at EVPL did what most libraries do, they recorded incidents by completing a Word Document. Staff would fill out the report, email it to the appropriate contact(s), and then it would be filed. Sutton shared that this process had its own challenges as updates were difficult to make, sometimes there were duplicate reports, and everything lived in separate places. “Not to mention, the process of analyzing all of the data was inefficient,” Sutton added. “Savannah’s Incident Reporting has been a solution to all of these challenges.”
For EVPL, the tool has created sufficient opportunities. He shared “Putting everything in one place is an effective way to operate. It has shifted the workplace culture immensely as more staff get accustomed to using the forms, they are able to document more often and quickly from different vantage points.” The staff at EVPL work together to link reports, to upload photos, videos, and documents as opposed to referring to paper, sending multiple emails with attachments or from memory as they had previously. “Our public-facing staff is better at documenting occurrences because they see library users more often and can recognize recurring situations. But sometimes, it eludes you. With the first documented incident, the staff becomes aware of a situation, an area of the library, or the time of day. If that behavior or situation happens again, staff are aware of the possibility, can recall from memory, and/or search the system and link back to a previous incident. This helps to understand the full picture, patterns of behavior, types of incidents, areas of the library, or even library locations where peculiar incidents reoccur because I do not typically deal with the public daily as they do. Linking incidents and attaching documents helps too.”
INCIDENT TRENDS
Using Incident Reporting has also resulted in trends being identified through real-time data and has increased communication in the workplace. “There was an incident that occurred at one location and because the same incident occurred at another location, our staff was able to see what was happening in a timely matter and get ahead of the situation,” Sutton shared. “There was another occurrence where the individual could not be identified. Because the incident was documented right away, staff across the system could see it and start making connections to where else the customer had been.” This feature allows library teams to communicate and document details in a timely matter to address situations quickly and efficiently all to keep library staff and library users safe.
Most recently, EVPL has seen an increase in health-related incidents including mental illness, addiction-related issues, and health-related challenges, resulting from an aging population, which has required EMT services. Sutton shared there has been an interesting opportunity to see the impact on the health and well-being of public-facing library staff who experience these incidents firsthand. “Our number one goal is to keep our staff healthy and safe. Being able to identify trends helps us get in front of these issues and allows us to provide staff with as much information as possible.”
EVPL also uses Incident Reporting to track incidents that result in property damage. “This is where it is handy to upload photos or other documentation,” Sutton said. “I like the idea that you can go back and add information continuously, even months later.”
OVERCOMING COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
A common challenge across most large library systems and organizations is communication. Sutton was pleased to share that he feels that Incident Reporting has been an efficient response to this problem as it provides a centralized approach. “Besides being flexible and customizable, it has improved communication. Having everything in one place makes so much sense. Incidents require different individuals who are involved at various levels of the organization’s hierarchy. Incident Reporting allows our team to comment and share updates in a timely matter and allows everyone to be involved that needs to be, without wasting time. We are given the opportunity to respond while keeping our policies and procedures in mind.”
A WORD OF ADVICE FOR OTHER PUBLIC LIBRARIES
“To any library, if you have a lot of incidents occurring regularly, having a system like this makes a huge difference and I can’t imagine not having it, especially in a library system that documents a lot of incidents.” Sutton shared. “In this day, the ability to gather and capture data under specific types of occurrences when evaluated against local challenges and opportunities allows you to potentially see how shifts in society impact the library. For example, are we seeing more drug usage in the library? Are we seeing the impact of homelessness? Are we seeing more health-related issues? We can start to see those trends and adjust in ways to help our staff and community.”