What is an Incident Report Form and How is it Used?
Sometimes, an incident might occur in the library that requires you to fill out an Incident Report Form. Some examples of when you would need to fill out an incident report form:
- Community patron refuses to leave at the end of public hours
- Patron reports that their personal belongings were stolen
- Patron is directing abusive speech at another patron or at a library worker
- Any time you have to call Security or 9-1-1
Incident reports help library staff establish patterns of problematic behavior in patrons. Since the library is open so many hours in the week (and is staffed by many different student employees an staff members), incident reports also help with cross-departmental communication with problematic patrons.
Best Practices for Filling Out Incident Report Forms:
When you are filling out an incident report, keep in mind that it will be read by the library's Associate Dean and Library Dean, as well as by your supervisors. It also may need to be used to justify something like trespassing a patron (which makes it illegal for them to be on campus for one year). When you are filling out the report, try to be detached and factual, and also try to capture as many details as possible (where did the incident occur in the building? what did the patron look like? what were they wearing? were there any witnesses? etc).
Who Submits Incident Reports
All library workers that either witness an incident in the library, or that field a report from a patron about an incident or possible crime (such as theft).
Where Do I Find the Incident Report Form?
It is saved on every Chrome browser at each student employee work station.
When Do I Submit an Incident Report Form?
Any time an incident occurs in the library where there is a patron behavioral issue, possible crime (such as theft), and/or a major violation of a building use policy.
Try to submit the form immediately after the incident so that the details are fresh in your mind. If you are unable to finish the report during your shift, please fill it out as soon as you can (and log time on your time sheet if it is outside of work).
If you are unsure about whether or not to fill out a report, err on the side of filling one out! This is especially true if your supervisors are away from the desk at the time of the incident.