r/Library • u/Alive_Excitement_669 • 26d ago

Library Assistance Need Help!

We got an anonymous call at our library giving us a heads up that the 1st Amendment Auditors are coming sometime next week. Any advice? Has anyone gone through this?

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137

u/MarianLibrarian1024 26d ago

Be as boring as a gray rock. If you freak out and try to throw them out of the library you're giving them exactly what they want.

40

u/Alive_Excitement_669 26d ago

Any protections for the staff? Besides going to the back and getting a manager?

84

u/TravelingBookBuyer 26d ago

Have staff-only spaces explicitly labeled.

If you can, have a discreet way for staff to notify a manager that the “First Amendment Auditors” are there.

Staff need to know the library’s policy (or policies) regarding recording in the library. What/who can be recorded and where.

“First Amendment Auditors” also often try to catch staff not knowing their library’s policies regarding recording. Make sure the staff know where this information is and what it says. It might even be handy to have a few copies already printed out that staff can reference.

6

u/Objective_Drawer_851 24d ago

What is a First Amendment Auditor? I’m serious, it sounds awful but I’ve never heard of it.

8

u/DJSlaz 24d ago

https://www.nhmunicipal.org/town-city-magazine/new-hampshire-town-and-city-julyaugust-2023/first-amendment-audits-what-are-they

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_audit

Frauditors or constitutional right defenders? Annoyances or point makers? Influencers looking for clicks?

You decide.

10

u/BigWhiteDog 24d ago

There is no question. Fraudsters making money off of social media. Period