Be Calm, Be Direct, Be Respectful

Of all the devastation connected to Hurricanes Helene and Milton in recent months, the most surprising may be to information. 

Meteorologists have been harassed. 

Conspiracy theories have hindered relief efforts. 

In North Carolina, William Jacob Parsons, “armed with a rifle and a handgun,” was arrested for threatening FEMA workers, forcing the agency to suspend its lifesaving work. 

This misinformation caused a number of phone calls to my law library. Some callers were curious (“Can a hurricane really be man-made?”). Others were helpful (“Here are some ways you can disperse hurricanes better”). A few were accusatory. One person yelled, “You people are sick!” before slamming down the phone.

Every librarian has to deal with unusual patrons. There are lots of articles devoted to the topic: 

• From Book Riot: “Librarians and Their Memorable Patron Interactions”
• From Librarian to Librarian: “What Is the Weirdest Thing You’ve Encountered or Had to Do as a Librarian?”
• From Better After 50: “Weird Stuff People Ask Librarians”

These articles feature mostly low-stakes occurrences, ranging from the whimsical (“A woman tried to get me to help name her baby”) to the offensive (“A woman once asked if I had any hand-me-down clothes I could give her daughter, since we were both ‘big girls’”), with plenty of Bizarro World thrown in (“[O]ne of the weirdest incidents that ever happened during one of my librarian shifts was when someone, for some unknown reason, decided to disassemble a large battery in the library . . . The whole building had to be evacuated as a HAZMAT team moved in to clean up the mess”). 

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Things, however, are different in a law library. As I’ve written before, most people don’t contact a law library for fun. What brings them to us are situations that are serious, complex, and urgent. Sometimes, like medical questions, they can be life-or-death. 

Even those who aren’t in dire straits can get worked up over legal or political topics. I work not just in a law library but in a legislative library. These, it seems, are catnip to conspiracy theorists, know-nothings, sovereign citizens, and the like. 

How should such patrons be handled?

The main thing is to treat every question seriously and every patron with respect. Focus on the question, not the patron. Keep them talking. Say, “Can you tell me more? I’m not sure I understand.” 

If the patron becomes stressed or combative, still treat them with respect, but realize your goal has changed. It is no longer to find information but to avoid an incident. Your approach can be akin to that of talking to a person with dementia: 

• Make eye contact;
• Be aware of your tone, volume, facial expressions, and body language;
• Be patient with angry outbursts;
• Don’t interrupt; and
• Accept their reality. 

Another key is to listen. Really listen. Too often, librarians want to jump into a search instead of hearing the patient out. This is a mistake. Here is how library consultant and educator Miriam Kahn puts it:

"The beginning of a query does not mean starting to type and explore online resources. It does not mean formulating a research strategy immediately. It does not entail jumping in and searching. The reference interview requires patience, requires attention, and requires that we engage active listening skills."

This is especially true in legal reference interviews. Many, many patrons don’t understand the law or legal procedure, meaning I find myself explaining the same basic concepts over and over. Such repetition tends to make one jaded. 

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Sometimes, however, a patron does know a lot. I once had a patron named Dan. He had inherited his father’s house, which sat close to a highway. The Department of Transportation was preparing an offer for this property for a right-of-way. Dan was going to meet with them in a few days, and he wanted to know what questions to ask, what the offer would be based on, and what, if anything, he could do if he didn’t like it.

When he finished his tale, I gave him my standard reply: “That’s a huge research project.” I often say this to patrons, not to deter them but to prepare them.

Dan looked at me, undeterred. “We have computers with internet access,” I suggested, thinking he would be happy if he could sit down and bang keywords into Google.

“Don’t you have books, too?” He sounded a little frustrated.

“Yes, but they contain court of appeals cases,” I explained. “They rule on procedural issues. Judges use the previous cases as guidelines, but they aren’t bound by them. They can still do what they want.”

By this time, I sounded condescending even to myself. I had taken Dan for a rube, but he turned out to be savvy, correctly using words like “precedent” and “judgment.” He had come to me not out of curiosity but with a real need, and I had not treated him with respect. Instead, I had built a barrier.

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Some patrons, of course, are suffering from actual mental illness. There are many articles about library services to such people (I wrote one myself), but not many in the realm of law libraries. 

One good one is from law librarians Nick Harrell and Cindy Guyer, who offer several tips:

• Be clear and direct;
• Be informed (“One of the best ways to better serve patrons with mental illness . . . is to learn more about mental illness”);
• Collaborate with colleagues (i.e., have another librarian ready to step in and help);
• Enforce library rules;
• Be creative (e.g., have a pro se section of the library);
• Empower the patron and respect their privacy; and the wisest — though hardest to follow — bit of advice,
• Underreact to unexpected situations.

Weird patrons are part of the business for law librarians. They can be exasperating, but they are rarely dangerous. Treating them like any other patron is the way to go — with, of course, a few commonsense tweaks. 

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