September 8th, 2009 Brian Herzog
I’m finally getting my library’s updated policies online. We started revising them in April 2008, and the Trustees approved the new versions in April 2009, so I’m a bit behind.
Updating a Dreamweaver-based website is slow going, so I thought I’d share the new (footnoted) Reference policy here. The old policies are still online until I get all the new ones coded and published. Once that is done, our plan is to review them every three years (some of these hadn’t been touched since 1999) to make sure they are up-to-date. I’m also trying to think of a better way to display them on our website - any ideas?
Reference Service Policy
The following guidelines should be used by Reference Department staff in providing answers and materials for ready-reference and general research questions taken in person, by telephone, by mail, or submitted electronically.
The primary role of the Reference Staff is to assist patrons with their information searches and to educate them in the location and use of all types of reference resources. While assistance will be provided, patrons should not expect Reference Staff to do their work for them. Staff should spend no more than 15 minutes assisting a patron before returning to the Reference Desk to be available to assist other patrons. Patrons are not permitted to purchase dedicated staff time for reference or research services; please see the Library’s Gift and Donation Policy (4.3) for additional details.*
Confidentiality
All reference transactions should be treated with confidentiality, and the patron’s right to privacy must be ensured. All information requests should be discussed only in a professional manner.
Timeliness
Patrons of all ages will be provided correct answers or referrals to their reference requests as soon as possible. If an answer cannot be provided within twenty-four hours, the patron will be informed of the status of their request.
While priority is given to walk-in patrons, telephone and electronic requests will be answered as quickly as possible. If “same day” service cannot be provided, the patron will be informed.
Locating Materials and Resources
Whenever possible, answers will first be sought using the resources available within the Chelmsford Library, whether print or electronic. The Reference Staff will also use the resources available through the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) and the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System (NMRLS). If an answer cannot be provided immediately using local resources, appropriate print or electronical materials will be requested or located on the patron’s behalf.
Every effort will be made to provide patrons with a source for an answer, where appropriate. If a patron is unable to visit the Library, the staff should offer to mail, fax or email a copy of the material, or a bibliography of the resources used (reproduction and/or shipping costs may apply).
Loaning of Reference Materials
Reference material will not leave the building. Material in this area is considered to be important for ready access to patrons, or be irreplaceable local history items. Allowing References items to circulate defeats the purpose of having a separate section for reference use. Patrons are encouraged to photocopy if they need to have the printed material in hand.
Types of Questions
The Reference Staff strives to provide professional and complete answers to any type of question asked at the Reference Desk. In addition to general reference questions, the following types of questions receive special treatment:
- Directory Information - Reference Staff will assist patrons searching for names, addresses, or other contact information in any publicly-available resource, including telephone books, city directories, and electronic resources. Reference staff will not provide personal information about other Library staff, nor information contained in their personnel files. Please contact Library Administration or the Town of Chelmsford Human Resources Department for personnel information.
- Homework Assignments - The use of the Library for homework and research assignments is part of the educational process, and staff should strive to provide students with a positive library experience. Questions from students should be answered in the same manner as other informational requests, and additional time should be given to provide the student with informal bibliographical instruction and research techniques.**
- Technology Questions - All Reference Staff will be proficient with the technology resources available within the library, and are responsible for assisting with electronic research resources and basic library computer and internet competencies. Technology questions beyond the scope of regular Library resources may be referred to the Head of Reference or the Library’s technology administrator.
- Medical/Legal/Financial Information - Medical, legal, tax and investing assistance is limited to directing patrons to Library resources and/or secondary referral sources such as local hospital libraries, law libraries, etc. Reference staff cannot, at any time, assist with the interpretation of medical, legal or financial information, or give patrons advice on these topics.
- Trivia Questions - Trivia question should be considered in the same manner as other informational questions. In line with the Chelmsford Library’s Public Service Policy (2.1), “The needs and requests of library patrons should always be taken seriously and treated with respect. Equal consideration should be given to all users in a non-judgmental environment.”
*I added this sentence to keep patrons from thinking they can “buy” reference staff time with gifts or donations, which also got included in the
Gift and Donation Policy, so it would apply to all library staff
**I originally included a sentence saying that staff would focus on helping the student, and not anyone that might be accompanying them. The reason is that a lot of times, a parent brings their child in, but never lets the child speak or explain their assignment - the parents just wants to get as many books and possible and leave as quickly as possible. I’m not a parent so I can’t criticize, but this bugs me to no end. However, the wording was awkward, and other department heads thought it sent a bad message, so it was cut.
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Posted under Library, Service | 6 Comments »
July 14th, 2009 Brian Herzog
A couple of weeks ago, the director of the Wadleigh Memorial Library in New Hampshire wrote me with this question (I’m paraphrasing):
We have an intern for the summer, and she’s started a blog about her work at the library. However, the next thing I knew, there was a link to her blog from the library’s homepage (it’s since been removed). While I like the idea of the public getting a bird’s eye view of what we do at the library, I have to think of worst case scenario….
I couldn’t find your blog linked from CPL’s website, but you do publicly announce on your blog where you work. Does CPL have any policies in place about staff blogs? Have you ever had anything you’ve written come back to bite the library?…
This is a very interesting question. Something I wrote once did come back to bite, and the Town, the Library and I were all threatened with a lawsuit. That prompted a discussion between my director and me about separating library and personal, although no written policy ever came of it. But in general, here are the blogging guidelines that I follow:
- Nothing written can be unwritten - think before you publish
- Get permission before using names, and be vague when referring to people otherwise
- Personal website has a disclaimer disassociating the library/town from me
Which is basic, I know, but since it’s a personal website done on personal time, there’s not much keeping me from doing whatever I want - other than common sense, experience, and goodwill towards the library. Since most of what goes on in libraries is public record anyway, pretty much everything I do at work is fair game, so long as I don’t break the law or violate patron privacy.
Even still, it might be a good idea for libraries to create some sort of guidelines for staff who publicly use the library’s name online. I don’t think libraries can force people to do or not do most things (aside from using library resources and time), but basic guidelines might help a well-meaning library employee avoid awkward situations they might not have otherwise considered.
A few resources for these guidelines are:
It’s a great idea for library employees to share their work with the public (and other librarians). Especially if the library is going to link to that personal blog from the library’s website (in which case, the library might be entitled to more control over the content of that personal blog). If no employee is doing this on their personal blog, the library’s blog itself could occasionally spotlight behind-the-scenes activities in the library.
I guess the bottom line is that people are still discovering Web 2.0, so there’s a lot of inexperience and new situations out there. Libraries shouldn’t try to prevent their employees from participating, but instead can assist them in doing it well (remember 23 Things?).
After our email discussion and speaking with library Trustees, the Wadleigh Library decided to put the link to their intern’s blog back on their homepage, which was good news. So if you’re looking for a model on how to do this, check out Lexi the Intern’s blog - she’s doing a great job.
Tags: blogs, communication, libraries, Library, Personal, policies, policy, public, social networking, social software, web 2.0, Websites See Also
Posted under Library, Technology | 5 Comments »
April 9th, 2009 Brian Herzog
The biggest oversight when my library was built was that they only put in one Quiet Study Room.
It is constantly in use, and constantly in demand. Because people want a quiet place to close the door and spread out, we do what we can to accommodate them - or they do.
When otherwise not in use, we let people use the Conference Room as a quiet study room. We also have a Local History Room, and many people decide to go in there and close the door.
And this is the root of the latest controversy in my library. Our Local History Room contains our local history resources, and, by library policy, is Open To All* patrons whenever the library is open. Which means anyone can go into this room, and if someone is already in there, they have to share.
However, we’ve recently had a spate of patrons closing the door and telling other patrons the room was reserved, and they couldn’t come in. This confused patrons and irritated staff, so we finally had to put signs up on the Local History Room door to very clearly spell out our policy.
As you may know, I have a reputation for taking down signs, so I wanted to make sure this sign was clear and effective - and I think it is. Since it went up, we haven’t had any problems. People still go in and close the door, but no more intra-patron intimidation, and that is a good thing.
Oh and by the way, I hung a sign both on the outside as well as on the inside of the door - that way when someone does close the door, they can’t claim they didn’t see the sign.
*I was inspired by the
entrance to the library in Groton, MA.
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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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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 »
