One of the most frequent and potentially vexing questions a library leader faces is “When do we make exceptions to rules?”

It’s a tough question in any organization, but maybe especially so in an organization that is constitutionally designed for the establishment and strict application of rules. Whether they be cataloging standards or circulation policies or restrictions on food or talking, rules can seem like the lifeblood of the library – the things that make it possible for us to serve our patrons well, and without which chaos would engulf the organization and render it useful to no one.

And honestly, I agree with that sentiment 100%. In the library, rules are not just important – they’re essential.

And yet, we all know there are times when exceptions have to be made. Circumstances regularly arise for which the rules simply don’t provide because we couldn’t have foreseen them. In such moments, the difficult questions we face are:

First, can there be an exception to this rule? 

Second, how will we determine whether an exception is sensible and fair?

These are questions that I deal with regularly (regularly) in my library, and I’m sure you do in yours as well. And my team and I have settled on a standard question that we ask ourselves when presented with the possibility of making an exception to a rule or policy. The question is:

What clear and fair principle would we be applying in a consistent way if we were to decide to grant this exception?

If – and only if – we can answer that question in a way that is both logically sensible and strategically compelling, then we feel confident in granting the exception.

Because let’s be honest here: the question “Why did you grant Phyllis, but not Fred, an exception to the rule against using group study rooms for graduate seminars?” is a perfectly legitimate one, and we should be able to answer it by reference to a clear and fair principle, consistently applied. If the real answer is “Because Fred has been driving me crazy all year and Phyllis did me a big favor,” that truly does not reflect the consistent application of a clear and fair principle (unless you think that “people who drive me crazy don’t get policy exceptions; that privilege is reserved for those who make my life easier” is a fair principle).

If, on the other hand, the reason Phyllis got to use the group study room for a graduate seminar was that Phyllis’s usual seminar room had experienced a flood due to a burst pipe and was being repaired, and that all other seminar rooms on campus were full, and the vice president for facilities had specifically asked us to make an exception to accommodate her, then the answer might be “Because Phyllis experienced a genuine emergency and the university asked us to help” – the underlying principle being “we make accommodations for genuine emergencies, especially when asked to do so by our host institution.” That’s a principle that is both clear and fair – and that can (and hopefully will) be consistently applied across the library. 

Sometimes, as leaders, it’s tempting to avoid making policy exceptions at all because of the knee-jerk belief that “if I make an exception for you, then I have to make it for everyone.” But that’s only true if the exception you make is not principle-based. (More on this in my next post.) If it is principle-based, and if you’re applying that principle consistently, then you’ll make the exception whenever it makes sense, and you won’t make it whenever it doesn’t make sense. The latter approach is more work may lead to more difficult conversations with staff, but difficult conversations with staff are part of the leader’s work – and as I said in an earlier post, if you’re going to take a leader’s salary, you’d better be willing to do a leader’s work.

Takeaways and Action Items

• Making exceptions to policy is fine – as long as you can explain the exception by reference to clear and fair principles, consistently applied.
• Making exceptions the right way doesn’t mean that the exceptions will always make everyone happy; it only means that you’ll be able to explain the exceptions in good faith.
• Talk with your leadership team about your library’s strategy for dealing with policy exceptions. Do you have a clear strategy, or do you just deal with each situation as it arises? Would it be helpful to clarify a statement of principle and share it broadly within your library?