#patron service

[prweigand]

Innovation by integration: patron service office models serve audiences better

Recently arts organizations have developed patron service office (PSO) models, where they pay frontline staff above industry standards and ask more from this team.

As someone who has been on that frontline position, I like this idea a lot!

[libraryaccounts-blog]

"In early days, I tried not to give librarians any trouble, which was where I made my primary mistake. Librarians like to be given trouble; they exist for it, they are geared to it. For the location of a mislaid volume, an uncatalogued item, your good librarian has a ferret's nose. Give her a scent and she jumps the leash, her eye bright with battle."

Catherine Drinker Bowen.  Adventures of a Biographer, ch. 9. 1959

[libraryaccounts-blog]

Upcoming Series: Libraries in Action

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, libraries have gone above and beyond in their service to the needy public. We’ve all been inspired by the stories and to see how libraries can make a difference at the lowest point in people’s lives. In light of this, I would like to address those of us who are not serving in a disaster area.  What are we doing for our patrons who are facing the same issues? In communities everywhere, there are families living in poverty.  What are we doing to help people who lack homes, stability, and peace of mind?  I’m working on a series about libraries and patrons experiencing homelessness and poverty. I’ll post a small piece each day.  But first, tell me about your experiences.  Do you have anything to share?

[libraryaccounts-blog]

The idea of a Human Library first emerged in Copenhagen about a decade ago, as a way to break down prejudice by bringing people of different backgrounds together for one-on-one conversation. The Toronto Public Library held its first Human Library event at five branches on Nov. 6, 2010 attracting more than 200 users who checked out the likes of a police officer, a comedian, a sex-worker-turned-club-owner, a model and a survivor of cancer, homelessness and poverty. They're all volunteers whose lives would make good reading, but even better one-on-one chatting.

...Click the link to read more!

[libraryaccounts-blog]

A quick list of questions asked of librarians at the reference desk. I think I've heard a number of these...  

[libraryaccounts-blog]

Great Expectations

Talk to any librarian in a public library, and she or he will be able to give you a recent example of a completely nonspecific or downright bizarre request. Whether it’s a green book they read last year or a movie they heard about on some TV show, we librarians get asked for anything and everything.  My personal favorite patron request happened a few years ago. A young couple came into the library and told me they were expecting their first child. The wife wanted us to help her locate a book she’d seen years ago that had a picture she wanted for the baby’s room.  The problem: she didn’t know the author, title, plotline, main characters, or really anything about the book. What she could remember was an illustration in the middle of the book which she described in some detail.

On some level, we wonder if our patrons understand just how unrealistic their expectations are. Librarians aren’t mind readers, however hard we try to be. And yet we constantly get requests that go beyond the scope of what we have the resources to do.  So why do they keep asking?

   Now think about your reaction to weird requests: yes, you may roll your eyes behind the scenes at the impossibleness of the task. You may complain later in the break room about outrageous patron requests. But don’t you also instantly start thinking about how you’re going to find the answer? Haven’t you ever walked up and down the aisles looking for a book that matches the description? Don’t you intently interview the patron for any clues that might help you identify the book? Won’t you call over your coworkers to join in the hunt?  Admit it, we love solving the puzzle. 

Ultimately, I found the book for my patron. As a coworker walked her up and down the picture book aisle pulling out books and checking pictures, I searched for book reviews online that mentioned watercolors and silhouettes (the illustration she had mentioned).  The patron mentioned that she might have seen it on Reading Rainbow once, so I cross-referenced descriptions of old episodes until I landed on it: The Day the Babies Crawled Away. I showed it to the patron, and she took it home to paint the nursery.

And that’s the real reason patrons ask what they ask us—because we (almost) always find the answer. It boils down to this: if we find it, they will come.

[libraryaccounts-blog]

Intro to Library Science

Ah the life of the librarian…

I’ve always known the library was the place I belong. I can be a game show host one day and a salesman the next.  One minute I’m a storyteller, the next I’m an activist. I teach, entertain, advocate, and create! I’m a master of persuasion—convincing parents that graphic novels might actually help their kid improve their reading, and enticing a reluctant reader to give this book a try because it’s super gross and extra funny and look how short it is! I love my job!  Where else would I get to train my very own group of superspy tweens? Where else would I get paid to convince teens to eat Twinkies stuffed with baby food, nacho cheese, and pudding?  Where else can I show up in costume on a day that isn't Halloween and not get (too many) funny looks? 

I honestly can’t imagine spending my life doing anything more enjoyable and fulfilling. There’s just one thing I hadn't counted on…problem patrons.  Patron service is always an adventure.  Whether it’s men twice my age hitting on me, patrons who never checked out that book…and anyway they definitely returned it last week, parents whose “tax dollars pay my salary” who want me to do their child’s homework for them, or children who take all the books off the shelves so they can build a fort, the public keeps things interesting! 

This blog will explore the ins and outs and ups and downs of working in a public library—from the books and programs to the patron service.  Thanks for reading!