Work Like A Patron Recap

I hope everyone enjoyed Work Like a Patron Day, and found a way to make using the library easier for your patrons.

I didn’t get to spend as much time as I had hoped, but I did notice a few things:

• We need more scrap paper at the workstations
• We need to clean up the litter and leaves and sticks and other debris around the front steps
• We should rename our wireless network from “CPL-g” to something an uninitiated patron will recognize and feel safe with
• It turns out that staff congregating and chatting at service desks is every bit as distracting as patrons on cell phones

But what struck me the most wasn’t what I noticed, but what kinds of things I noticed. I mean, I already know that the patron catalog interface needs improvement, and that not everyone understands how to log on to a computer or where the photocopier is.

Everything I noticed yesterday were little things. Even though I’m among the public computers every day, and we replenish them with scrap paper when we see them empty, if you’re a patron sitting there and there is no paper, it doesn’t help that staff put some there that morning. It’s not there now. And the junk around the front door is easy to miss when you’ve got on the blinders of familiarity - it’s always there, so I stopped noticing it. But when you do notice it, it looks kind of bad.

So in addition to the original list, I’m also going to make a point of looking for the subtle things, like:

• Is there a glare on computers by the windows at certain parts of the day?
• Is it too hot/cold in here?
• Does it stink in here?
• How easy is the phone menu system to navigate?

Even if I can’t change them, staff being aware of them is a good thing, because I’m sure our patrons are.

So thank you to everyone who supported and participated in the day. I got lots of emails and saw many posts and comments about it, which is great. In fact, I only saw one negative comment about it. It astounds me that someone who writes for Library Journal would criticize the idea of making the library a better place, but there you go.

Be sure to remember this day next year, too. More information is available on
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Work_Like_A_Patron_Day and http://www.flickr.com/groups/worklikeapatronday.

See Also

• “Work Like A Patron” Day
• Serve the Community or Serve the Individual
• What is Necessary, What is Possible
• Top 10 Patron Pet Peeves
• Ich Bin Ein Patron

Posted under Library, Service | 1 Comment »

“Work Like A Patron” Day

Last week, a library volunteer and I were working on a project together. We each needed to work on a computer, but be close enough together to talk. The only arrangement like this in the library are the public workstations, so we worked out there.

In addition to getting the work done, I learned a few things:

• some of the keys of the keyboard didn’t work very well
• the monitor had streaks and fingerprints on it
• it was hard to concentrate with people walking and talking around us
• both of us forgot to bring a flash drive to save our work

This experience reminded me of a post I read on Walking Paper (but I couldn’t find it again). Aaron mentioned how important it was to put ourselves in our patrons’ shoes, so we can see the library as they see it.

That’s why I’m proposing “Work Like A Patron Day” on October 15th. In honor of the day, I think library staff should (when possible):

• enter and leave the library through the public entrance (not the staff doors)
• use the public restrooms
• use the public computers to do your work
• reserve public meeting rooms for meetings
• follow all library policies

Obviously, exceptions will need to be made. But, much like a sheriff spending a week in his own jail, this would give library staff a different perspective on the library. Experiencing the library in this way will make sure the library isn’t just the place we work, but it’s where our patrons work. And play.

As for the date, I picked October 15th because it is six months after Library Appreciation Week, which was April 13th-17th. Not that working like a patron is the opposite of appreciating the library, but it seemed to fit. Or maybe the week surrounding Oct. 15th should be “Library Patron Appreciation Week,” of which “Work Like A Patron Day” is just one day.

Update: Thanks to a comment below, I added a Work Like A Patron day page to the staff training section of the Library Success wiki (http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Work_Like_A_Patron_Day) for general information and a flickr group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/worklikeapatronday) for sharing photos of the day. Please also share your experiences from the day here in the comments.

See Also

• Work Like A Patron Recap
• Serve the Community or Serve the Individual
• Top 10 Patron Pet Peeves
• What is Necessary, What is Possible
• Ich Bin Ein Patron

Posted under Library, Service | 27 Comments »