Archives for Service:
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 »
April 15th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Occasionally spam email messages catch my eye. I recently saw one with this subject: “Send Email and Photos to Loved Ones Who Don’t Use a Computer.”
I’m not promoting this service, but I think it’s an interesting idea, and I’d never heard of it before. The company is Presto.com, and what they sell is a way to electronically communicate with someone who doesn’t have email.
The product is a printer that plugs into a home phone line, and their service converts incoming emails into color printouts - with no user intervention.
The demo is worth watching, but how it works seems fairly simple. Each HP printer gets an email account (which is managed by someone who is comfortable with the internet), and in addition to printing messages from loved ones, the company also provides free content like crosswords, recipes, and newsletters. And since you control the “approved sender” list, it means no spam and no ads.
I keep thinking this might actually have a place in a library, but I can’t exactly figure it out. I certainly would rather teach someone how to use email than give them a crutch, but lots of people don’t have the time or desire to learn - but do want pictures of their grandkids.
The catch would be if each printer is only associated with one email address. If it could handle more, then this might be a service we could provide to patrons. They set up an account with us, and then we hold whatever printouts they receive just like we hold their requested books. That would definitely strengthen the library’s sense of community, but perhaps this product is better suited for senior centers or retirement homes.
Besides, kids today are practically issued cell phone numbers and IM handles at birth, so this type of technology is probably pretty short-lived.
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Posted under Library, Service, Technology | 4 Comments »
February 16th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Not every reference question I am asked is one that I can answer. This is one of those.
Perhaps the very nature of a small public library prevents librarians like me from being experts in any given field - since we have to respond to questions on any possible topic, it helps to know a little about a lot of areas rather than a lot about a single area. Specialists work in academic and large public libraries, and generalists end up in smaller libraries.
But that’s not to say that a librarian won’t know quite a bit about an area they are interested in. Coworkers of mine could easily specialize in linguistics, pop culture, cooking and modern fiction. Hiking, conspiracy theories, knitting and dystopian novels are some of the particular holes I’ve dug for myself.
At least, those are all the excuses I can think of for my behavior with this reference question.
A patron sends the following email to our reference desk:
To: Chelmsford Library Reference
Subject: Corporate Tax Rate
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am living in Kuwait and for study purpose I have a 2 US Corporate tax related questions.
A US-Based Company (Domestic Company) have its operations in Foreign Country what tax is levied on this company?
If this domestic company is acquired by a foreign company (and domestic company is still operating in another foreign country)….what will be tax rate implied for that foreign country?
Hope You answer my question
Here’s why I answered this question the way I did:
- Although we help anyone who comes in, calls, or emails us, we do give priority to local patrons. He didn’t say he was a local resident who just happened to be abroad, and I didn’t see his name in our catalog. I honestly have no idea how he found our email address from Kuwait, and that makes me suspicious and reluctant to spend a lot of time on this
- He did mention that he is there for study, and I’m always hesitant with students: the line between helping them do their work and doing their work for them is often blurry. I try to err on the side of less help to start with, but keep checking in to see if they are on the right track
- This is a tax question (and a very specific one), and we have a policy against giving tax advice. Especially with such a specific question, unless you get an answer from a specialist, it’s hard to know how much to trust the answer
So, with all that in mind, my reply back to him is below. I knew I wasn’t giving him an answer, but I wanted to at least direct him to some resources that might lead him to an answer:
To: [patron]
Subject: Re: Corporate Tax Rate
I’m sorry, but specific tax questions are beyond our expertise here, and also violates our policy against giving tax advice. I did try looking into your request, and found the Internal Revenue Service’s International Business page (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/international/), which may lead to the answers you seek.
The IRS also has an office in Philadelphia, PA, USA, that focuses on international issues. Their contact information is listed on http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/article/0,,id=101292,00.html
In addition, the IRS has technical support for its website, which should aide you in locating the information on their website that will answer your questions: http://www.irs.gov/help/article/0,,id=97185,00.html
Another potential resource for you to contact is the United States Embassy in Kuwait (http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/), which may have an office to help with your questions, or be able to direct you to the government agency that can answer them.
I’m sorry we are not able to answer your questions directly, but I hope some of the above information might help you. If there is anything else we can do, please let us know. Thank you, and take care.
Brian Herzog
Head of Reference
Chelmsford Public Library
This feels like such a cop out, and I feel bad I couldn’t come up with a real answer, but this seems like the kind of question someone could spend days researching and still find nothing. The patron did reply with a very polite and gracious thank-you message, but I haven’t heard back if he found what he was looking for.
If anyone knows of resource that can answer this, I would appreciate hearing about it.
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Posted under Library, Reference Question, Service | 4 Comments »
January 15th, 2008 Brian Herzog
I believe this sign was seen hanging in an antique store:
Wouldn’t this be a good way for libraries to both allow cell phone use in the library and encourage patrons to interact with librarians (in a way that is convenient for the patron)?
Or we could go the supermarkets route and install “help phones” in the stacks, so patrons who can’t find their items don’t have to go looking for staff, too. Hmm.
cell phones, customer service, libraries, library, phone support, public, reference 2.0, roving reference
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Posted under Library, Service | No Comments »
April 28th, 2007 Brian Herzog
This is only marginally a reference question, but I thought it was funny. And as with most things in my life, it requires a bit of a setup…
Our internet connection went down on a recent Friday at 5pm. On Saturday, since our Assistant Director in charge of computery stuff was on vacation for the week, I called comcast.
Eventually I spoke with a very nice tech support person. He had me check stuff and try things, none of which worked. He concluded the problem was on their end, and would send out a service guy. But, since the next day was Sunday, and the Monday was a holiday, it was unlikely the guy would get there before Tuesday.
Of course, we were open full regular hours Saturday and Sunday. Very disappointed patrons kept coming to the desk to ask what the problem was, and when it would be fixed. People even repeatedly called throughout each day, asking if “we had turned the internet back on yet.”
But one patron stood out from the crowd. He’s a high-functioning special needs guy who comes in pretty regularly. We don’t require signups to use the public computers, but he always comes to the desk and asks permission anyway. When I told him Saturday that internet access was unavailable, he stood and thought for a moment.
He then asked where the computer books were, and I showed him. He looked at the shelf for awhile, selected one book, and then sat for about an hour reading it. Later he came up to the desk, looking kind of deflated, and holding the book out to me.
It was The Internet for Dummies, and he said “I thought maybe I could fix your internet, but this book doesn’t tell me how.”
I thanked him, and told him it was okay, because we had someone on their way. That made him felt better, and he said he come back in a couple days.
He was the only patron who didn’t first think how their day was ruined because the library was keeping the internet from them. It took me be surprise because, as a librarian, I am continually asking what the library can do for the patron, and not what the patron can do for the library. This was a refreshing and unexpected reversal.
internet, internet access, internet down, libraries, library, public libraries, public library
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Posted under Library, Reference Question, Service | 3 Comments »
