[Publib] 50 things...

Thu Nov 5 13:02:51 EST 2009

This discussion reminds me of a customer service seminar I attended
years ago, in which the facilitator spoke of the 'rule of 65.' What she
meant was the tendency of librarians always to give priority to how
things were done in 1965. So patrons standing at the desk always get
priority over those on the telephone. She had other examples, though I
can't recollect any now. She had a commonsensical approach; the caller
just entered the queue, the same as people standing in front of you.
That's really the only workable way to do it. Of course someone
approaching the desk and thinking they're next in line may be upset to
see you turn and take a waiting call first, but that's when we need to
simply acknowledge them and politely say, 'Excuse me, I have someone on
hold.'

It's interesting how much discussion this rule, and the 'no pointing'
rule have engendered. Wait til you see all the suggestions that have
come to me off list. We'll be talking for days.

Tom Cooper, Director

Webster Groves Public Library

301 E. Lockwood Avenue

Webster Groves, MO 63119-3102

 (314) 961-3784 
tcooper at wgpl.org 

Do not judge beliefs by their plausibility, but by the harm they may do.

                                             Nassim Nicholas Taleb 

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Mark Hudson
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 11:51 AM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Publib] 50 things...

I think you've misunderstood. I didn't say we should ignore them. Of
course the librarian should acknowledge the waiting patron regardless of
what their need is. In practice, we often if not usually end up
interrupting the reference interaction to take care of the print jobs,
simple tech support requests, etc. I think to a large extent this is
because, unfortunately and through no real fault of their own, our
"non-reference" patrons don't really understand what the reference desk
is, and often become very impatient if their need for printouts, change
or tech support isn't met very quickly. What to us is a "reference
interview" they may see as idle chatter. Frequently a patron will just
verbally interrupt the reference interaction (even after being
acknowledged and asked to please wait a minute or two), essentially
making it impossible to ignore them.

Of course it's a staffing-level problem. It would be much better if we
had two librarians on the reference desk all the time, or maybe one
librarian and one tech support person, but our staffing levels don't
permit that and aren't likely to in the future, so we just have to get
used to it. Often, during the day at least, there's another librarian in
the building that the reference librarian can call, but not always, and
even when there is that person isn't always going to be available at a
moment's notice, given their other responsibilities vis-a-vis collection
development, programming, etc.

-- 

Mark Hudson

Head of Adult Services

Monroeville Public Library

4000 Gateway Campus Blvd.

Monroeville, PA 15146

412-372-0500x13

On Nov 5, 2009, at 11:05 AM, Lisa Richland wrote:

While it is important to assist a patron with an extensive reference
question, ignoring those with what the reference librarian considers
less important is counter-productive.  If you would take a moment to
inquire of the waiting patron exactly what their need is, you will
demonstrate to all concerned that every patron has valid needs. At least
acknowledge them with a smile and a time frame (I'll be with you in five
minutes) You can then dole out change, send jobs to the printer, while
still engaging the reference questioner in further discussion.  Those
people you've ignored in favor of the questioner won't come back to you
when they have a reference need, since you ignored them. Each one of
them deserves respect. Think about the grand scheme of things.  

...and that's MY opinion

Lisa Richland, Director
Floyd Memorial Library
Greenport, NY (the last library before Portugal)

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:50 AM, Mark Hudson <hudsonme at mac.com> wrote:

I agree completely. But what about the patron standing at the reference
desk, while the one librarian at the desk is engaged in a reference
interview and doing searches, who wants to be placed on a waiting list
for a computer, or wants to have their printouts sent to the printer and
pay for them (rarely with exact change), or who just wants change for
the vending machines? And what about the computer users frantically
waving at us to come over and help them with their technical problems? I
think the answer is obvious. The person receiving reference help is the
first priority.

-- 

Mark Hudson

Head of Adult Services

Monroeville Public Library

4000 Gateway Campus Blvd.

Monroeville, PA 15146

412-372-0500x13

-----Original Message-----
From: "Kevin Okelly" <KOkelly at minlib.net>
Subject: Re: [Publib] 50 things...
To: "Gair Helfrich" <ghelfrich at aclsys.org>, "Vicki Marsh"
          <vmarsh at oldhampl.org>, publib at webjunction.org
Message-ID: <WorldClient-F200911042119.AA19566392 at minlib.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

When I work the reference desk a person physically standing in front of
me
always has priority. They took the time and made the effort to come into
the library, therefore they come first.

Kevin O'Kelly
Reference and Community Languages Librarian
Somerville Public Library
79 Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA 02143
(617)-623-5000

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