Every library needs policies – and, just as important, it needs a healthy system for making, curating, and amending policies, or what I’m going to call a “policy regime.” Let’s look at each of those three elements of the policy regime in sequence.

Making Policies

In a healthy library, everyone can answer the question “How do I propose a new policy, and what will happen once I’ve proposed it?”. And they’re able to answer that question not just because someone told them once, but because one of the library’s policies is “A complete, accurate, and up-to-date policy library is available to, and easily findable and navigable by, every library employee” – and because within that policy library is a policy that explains how policies are made.

Different libraries will of course do things in different ways, but successful libraries (ones that serve their patrons and their institution well, and in which people are happy to work) will all tend to implement policies in ways that adhere to principles like these:

• Everyone in the library has the right to propose a new policy (or an amendment to an old one, or the elimination of one).
• Appropriate channels are clearly set for such proposals, and follow a logical process chain up to whoever is authorized to set policy.
• Policies are clearly and completely written, as concisely as possible.
• Library-wide policy is set by library-wide authorities; unit policies are a) in alignment with library-wide policies, and b) are set by unit-level authorities.
• No policy is set, amended, or eliminated without input from relevant stakeholders – bearing in mind that while everyone has a voice, not everyone can always have a say (more about this in a future post)

How these principles are implemented will vary based on the specifics of the library organization. But the principles, I believe, are essential to any well-functioning library.

Curating Policies

As I pointed out in the last post, a policy that is not written down is not a policy – it’s a tradition, and while there’s nothing wrong with tradition per se, confusing tradition with policy can be very problematic. Traditions are subject to abuse, particularly when people with strong personalities adopt them and try to bring everyone within their sphere of stewardship into compliance. Traditions-as-policies also tend to create misunderstanding and confusion, because unwritten traditions will inevitably be remembered and understood differently by different people in the organization.

Once a policy is created according to the library’s well-established process and its written form finalized, it must then be stored in a place that allows everyone in the library to find and see policies, but to which only library administrators have “edit” access. The platform on which policies are stored must offer full-text searching capability (“I know we have a policy that says something about service animals, but none of the policies is called ‘Service Animals.’ Where did I see that?”), and once there the policies should be organized into some kind of logical order to facilitate high-level browsing (recognizing that there is no approach to ordering that will eliminate all potential confusion).

The policy library should be managed by one person, to whom all newly approved policies (or amendments or policy cancelations) should be communicated, and who should be tasked with making the changes within 24 hours of notification. Every policy should contain an indication of the date on which it was approved and of what authorizing entity approved it. The whole policy library should be reviewed at least once per year to ensure that it continues to be both complete and accurate.

Amending Policies

No policy is sacred, and no policy should be expected to last forever. The same process that is set up within the library for proposing policies should serve as a conduit for proposals of policy revision. The same channel of discussion and approval that is set up for new policy proposals should also be used for policy amendment proposals. The same criteria and principles used for the evaluation of proposed new policies should be applied to proposals of policy revision. And all of this applies equally to proposals of policy elimination: sometimes policies need to go away, and when they do, we should all rejoice – there is no virtue in having policies we don’t need.

Look, no one (well, hardly anyone) thinks creating, curating, and amending policies is fun. It can be brutal drudgery, and sometimes it’s brutal drudgery laced with interpersonal conflict and administrative frustration. But good policy is absolutely essential to a happy, well-functioning organization, and good policy depends on good process. The work is worth it.

Next Tuesday, we’ll talk about a slightly frightening policy topic: avoiding policy hijack.

Takeaways and Action Items

• You can’t have a healthy library without a healthy policy regime.
• A healthy policy regime necessarily includes solid procedures for creating, curating, and amending policies.
• Take a look at your organization’s policy library. How does it look? Is it complete and accurate? Is it up to date? Can you tell when your policies were adopted, and on whose authority? Can your employees find and understand all your library’s policies?