Archives for Service:
July 15th, 2008 Brian Herzog
A project we’ve been kicking around at my library for a long time is creating some kind of town-wide centralized volunteer listing. The library is a natural place for such a resource, but it’s a big project.
To fill this need, we just launched ChelmsfordVolunteers.org. The end product was not really the goal we set out with - and I don’t think it’s the last version of the resource, either.
Originally, we wanted a tool that would list groups in the area that need volunteers, and also a calendar of upcoming events with volunteer opportunities. We also wanted the local organizations to be able to update their listing and event information themselves, without any library staff intervention.
As part of a grant, a local high school student explored a few different software options. We started with a WordPress version, then a Drupal version, then a WebCalendar version, but we kept running into the same problem: the tool did either the database part well, or the events calendar part well, but not both. Each solution also had other pros and cons, which is why we kept looking at different options.
The current iteration of volunteer listing actually uses two existing tools, which are combined under one domain name (chelmsfordvolunteers.org). From a single web page, we link to each tool, but tried to make it look like it was all integrated together.
The two tools are the Community Information database, which is run by the consortium and is (supposed to) list all non-profit groups in all communities of the consortium. I edited the records of the Chelmsford organizations to make sure they all had a reference to “volunteers,” and these records provide all the contact information for the groups.
The other tool is the Calcium Calendar from Brown Bear. The library has been using this as our main events calendar for years, so it was easy to set up another one just for volunteer events.
Between these two tools, we’ve got both an events listing and an organizations database, although they are not connected. Using Comm Info is nice in that we don’t need to maintain two records for each organizations, but we are limited at the same time to only non-profit groups - which excludes some hospitals and other businesses that offer volunteer opportunities.
Another drawback of the current setup is that the organizations do not have direct access to update their information and events. We set up two web forms to handle submissions and updates, but it’s an extra layer and more of a hassle for everyone involved than it needs to be.
But it works, and it’s better than nothing until we find the ideal solution. So if anyone knows of a tool that will fill this need, or another library doing something similar, I would appreciate hearing about it.
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Posted under Library, Service, Technology | 2 Comments »
July 3rd, 2008 Brian Herzog
I was sad to read a recent post on Walking Paper, quoting someone who was unhappy with their local library’s interlibrary loan record.
Any bad library experience is a blow, but especially so with interlibrary loan: I personally think the ability to freely lend library items across the country is one of our greatest strengths, and one definite thing that sets us apart from other local groups and for-profit organizations.
And honestly, I always get a bizarre little thrill when someone calls to request a book. I like knowing I can pull a book from the shelf, print a hold slip, and put that book on the hold shelf. Then, another staff member will continue to forward that book on to the patron, be it a local patron or someone in another state. Dorky, I know, but I like that sense of being part of a system.
But back to the comments: unfortunately, everything cited is (or can be) true. Requests can take time to fill. Books do go missing. Most ILSs don’t provide an easy way to communicate problems upstream. Sometimes, the best a local staff person can do is mark their local copy missing and hope the request is filled by another library.
But that shouldn’t be the best we can do. To capitalize on our unique network, and to compete with modern options like NetFlix, any new system (software and people) should be designed to optimize interlibrary loan, not just allow for it. Massachusetts is at least lucky that we have a (mostly-)state-wide catalog, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
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Posted under Library, Service | 2 Comments »
June 26th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This isn’t a new issue, but it’s happen three times this week, so I thought I’d mention it: people using the library for storage.
I don’t mean the library collection. I mean patrons using the friendly and easy-going atmosphere of the library as a safe place to either leave things, store things, or transfer things to someone else.
So far this week, I have been involved in the following situations:
- A patron who routinely leaves her notebook and text books at the library. She knows we clean up each night and hold things like this at the lost-and-found at the desk, in case someone comes to claim them. She said she knows they are safe, and it’s easier than her lugging it all home each night
- A patron who emailed me important files from his home computer, because he was sending it out for service and didn’t want to lose them (I won’t even try to explain that he could have emailed them to himself instead of me, not to mention backing up to disk)
- A patron who uses the library as a drop-off point: for instance, if she needs to get some documents to someone else, and they can’t meet personally, she’ll leave them at the desk with that person’s name on them and tell the other person to pick them up at the library
It says a lot that people not only trust the library like this, but also think of us in these situations. That’s being an important part of the community.
But it’s also annoying, you know? The library cannot take responsibility for these items, so it worries me that people rely on good natures and good fortunes. I could understand if we had public lockers for these purposes, but we don’t (then there are the stories of library lockers being used for drug deals and who knows what all).
All of these exchanges involve staff time, which is another concern. A few times a month is no big deal, but if more people routinely use the library to store their personal property, or to pass along items to other people - or worse, as daycare until their child can be picked up by someone else - this kind of thing could easily get overwhelming.
Or am I wrong? Should libraries do whatever patrons ask of us, and make it part of our mission to offer this kind of service? I fully support the idea of library as community center, so perhaps. It just seems something like this needs to be decided deliberately, and not just be some patrons getting special treatment on the sly.
Tags: drop-off, libraries, Library, Personal, pick-up, private, public, Service, storage, transfer, use See Also
Posted under Library, Service | 8 Comments »
April 29th, 2008 Brian Herzog
In addition to updating our Circulation policy, we also recently revised a few different areas of our Library Use policy.
For the last ten months or so, we’ve had a trial period of not enforcing our “No Cell Phones” policy, to see how much of a problem it was. During that time, we learned two things:
- Cell phones aren’t the problem: loud ringers and loud talking are
- People who do get a call are usually pretty good about removing themselves to a quieter area to speak, without us asking them to
Since two people sitting at a table having an overly-loud conversation is just as disruptive as someone having an overly-loud cell phone conversation, we wanted to reword our policy to permit non-disruptive use. Our goals were:
- Promote behavior that is courteous to other patrons
- Provide areas and circumstances where cell phone use is allowed
- Use wording that does not target a specific technology, so it doesn’t get outdated as technology evolves
So in the end, we went from this:
Cellular phones may not be used inside library buildings.
to this:
Mobile devices such as cellular phones and hand-held computers should be set to “silent” mode. Use of a mobile device in the library should be brief and quiet. Out of respect to other library patrons, prolonged conversations should be moved to a less public area, such as the foyer, the courtyard or the parking lot.
Wordier, I know, but hopefully clear and more in line with modern patron needs (though still a bit short of a cell phone lounge).
For our Food and Drink policy, we wanted to change it to permit drinks in covered containers, so we went from this:
Food and/or drink are not permitted.
to this:
Food is permitted only in the meeting room during special events and in the outdoor seating areas. Food is not permitted in any other public area of the library. Drinks are allowed throughout the building, but only in covered containers. Care must be taken to avoid spills, and patrons should notify staff if any spills occur. Beverages and waste should be disposed of properly and containers should be recycled whenever possible.
And we expanded our Smoking Policy from this:
Smoking is not allowed.
to this:
The use of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are not allowed.
Funny how specific you have to be when writing policies. “The use of” was added at the last minute, because without it, we realized the policy forbid people from even having cigarettes in their purse, and Library staff is certainly not going to be checking bags.
We had input from our Board of Trustees on these changes, so although they won’t be officially approved until their May meeting, we’ve already got them posted on our website.
A patron may never notice something like this, but hopefully it’ll go a long way towards making everyone’s (patrons and staff) library experience better.
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Posted under Library, Service | 4 Comments »
April 22nd, 2008 Brian Herzog
This is a long story, so I’m going to try to summarize as much as possible. It’s a good story, though, so stick with me.
A few months ago, an incident at my library finally brought a long-smoldering issue to the surface. My library doesn’t charge overdue fines, and we rely on patron integrity to get things back on time. So far, this policy works very well, and I know the staff enjoys not dealing with fines.
That being said, our system is abused from time to time. The culture in this library is to put customer service first, to give patrons a good library experience, with “getting to yes” as our unwritten rule. But since we had no written policy to that affect, and what rules we do have are considerably flexible, different staff would enforce overdue items in different ways (some would allow patrons to check out new items, some wouldn’t).
But worst of all, this situation allowed some patrons to “shop around” amongst desk staff until they got the answer they wanted, and this is what finally caused a blow up.
We (the department heads) decided we needed to ensure that patrons received consistent service, no matter who helped them. We rewrote a portion of our circulation policy, with the goal of making it clear and fair, while making sure it allowed for the highest degree of service but still punished those who flagrantly abused the system.
It took some time, and as Reference Librarian I was only marginally involved. But I was so impressed with what our Circulation and Childrens Librarians came up with that I wanted to share. The beginning of the new policy contains this preamble:
This library makes certain assumptions when dealing with the public:
- The staff of this library works to “get to yes” with patrons
- The vast majority of patrons are honest; therefore, we take patrons at their word
- Patrons appreciate courtesy and understanding. Gentle reminders, along with compassion toward extenuating circumstances, are used to prompt people to return overdue items
It goes on from there into the technical nitty-gritty for enforcing the policy, and in general staff was very satisfied with the result. The goal is still serving patrons, but the more black-and-white desk staff now have an up-to-date policy in writing to guide them.
And since this policy has been in place, the number of abuses and difficult situations seems to have gone down.
I’m generally a rules-based person, but serving patrons as well as possible should always come first. It’s a fine line between completely meeting one patron’s needs and also serving the next patron in line equally and fully, but having a written yes-based policy goes a long way towards making everyone happy.
Tags: customer service, get to yes, libraries, Library, patrons, policies, policy, positive now, public, saying yes, Service, yes, yes-based See Also
Posted under Library, Service | 2 Comments »
