Comments on: The Patron Whisperer (+ contest)

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:24:57 +0000

I want to say, thinking back lo those many years to my Psych and Marketing classes, that what you illustrated above is a form of positive framing, or phrasing a statement in such a way as to avoid blame or cast any person/thing in a bad light.

That’s probably way more general than what you’re looking for, but it’s the best I could do with a fried back-to-school brain. Good luck!

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:38:19 +0000

I think you guys are right – there will never be a single right answer, because it will always depend on the situation. I guess the important thing is for staff just to be aware of what how they’re coming across, and to keep in mind that whatever they’re doing, they are the face of the library.

By: Diana

Diana — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:23:46 +0000

Just happened across this post and it occurs to me that in some cases Response A can work to build a shared experience (“you and me vs the world” mentality). I’m not saying I advocate this in all situations, though, but in situations where a little less formality is acceptable it could work to create a little bonding humour.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:41:23 +0000

I generally prefer the Response B style.

However, regarding your third example: Our county public library system has 20 branches and several thousand public PCs, most of which are over 6 years old…most of which chronically freeze up and need rebooting.

Since I must have this apologetic conversation multiple times each day, I have decided that library advocacy calls for me BOTH to offer Response B AND to offer an apology which educates the customer about budget issues.

I’m polite as possible, yet I know that our public has ill-informed notions about library budgets and city revenue…and they keep voting for more tax cuts.

Oy!

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Friday Link Round Up « ellie <3 libraries — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:37:22 +0000

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Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:12:22 +0000

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By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:16:14 +0000

It could be a version of distancing language… a humorous example of which can be found here: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/05/051106.html

A little different, but the idea is the same – someone is to blame, but it certainly isn’t me!

And of course, drama and improv is all about the “yes, and” approach – if you say no or but, the scene is shut down. I think that goes for our daily conversations as well!