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 | 7 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 | 1 Comment »
April 17th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Here’s a neat web tool I’ve been waiting to use ever since I read about it a few weeks ago on the Library 2.0 Ning group - the Awesome Highlighter.
It lets you highlight a portion of a webpage, send someone a link, and then they can see exactly what you highlighted. Great for virtual reference work, but also just good in general.
One of our more tech-savvy patrons emailed me asking if there was an easy way to search the Library’s catalog right from book’s page on Amazon. There is, using Firefox and Greasemonkey, and it is outlined on my Library’s Tech Tools page.
But instead of just sending him the link to the Tech Tools page, I ran it through the Awesome Highlighter, so I could send him a highlighted page, with focus on exactly the portion of the page I wanted him to see. Not that he wouldn’t have found it on his own, but it just makes it a little bit easier - especially the “jump to highlights” link at the top.
On the Ning page, there’s some discussion about the highlighter working or not working depending on whether the user is signed in. I’ve only used it a couple times, but I haven’t had any trouble. The great thing is that someone from the company is participating in the discussion, so hopefully whatever bugs do exist will be corrected as a result - much like Jessamyn’s comments on SWIFT.
If we never speak up, then we’ll never get tools that do exactly what we need (I’ll refrain from inserting my ILS soapbox here).
Tags: awesome, awesomehighlighter, highlighter, libraries, Library, online, public, reference, Service, Technology, tool, tools, virtual See Also
Posted under Library, Technology | 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.
See Also
Posted under Library, Service, Technology | 4 Comments »
January 4th, 2007 Brian Herzog
A couple stories recently caught my attention, as examples of threats to the service libraries can provide.
First was an (much talked about) New York Times article, about a library in New Jersey. They were being overrun by kids after school let out. Their solution? Close the library between 2:45pm and 5:00pm.
I don’t agree with this, but I can empathize - I used to work at a library with the same concern, but to a much lesser degree. Even still, this is not a long-term solution. My current library is lucky enough to have both a Childrens and a Young Adult Librarian, who do after-school programming as well as special programming on early-release days - recognizing who your patrons are and preparing for them is the key.
The second story is an issue brought up recently on the Maine Libraries listserv (MELIBS-L). The following message was posted to the list on behalf of an unnamed library:
…city council [is requesting] to apply the following to non-residents: Anyone who walks through the door must prove they have a card or will be asked to leave. Anyone who asks a reference question or brings children to storytime or uses any service from this library will be asked to pay a fee. This will not apply to use of internet connectivity as that is not permitted under e-rate rules…
Maine librarians have always been open and supportive, and a great deal of discussion ensued (the highlights of which are below in the comments). Again though, although I can understand how someone could reach this as a solution, it just goes against everything libraries stand for. I haven’t heard yet what happened with this city council request, but will post the result when I do.
Geez. We all talk about how outstanding customer service needs to be our bottom line if libraries are to have any kind of future, so it is shocking that situations like these exist in American libraries today.
access, access to information, customer service, libraries, library, service
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Posted under Library, Service | 7 Comments »
