Saturday, September 09, 2006
Reference in the Raw
A while ago I commented on the contradictory messages we managers send to our staff when we require them to bring "off desk" tasks to the public service desks. In my opinion, the effects on public service of having a cart in front of oneself, or of being immersed in a non-patron oriented task are terribly detrimental. We focus on our computer while we compose a message that we want to get just right, we look down and furl our brow as we try to understand something we are reading. In short, we concentrate on the tasks at hand, no matter how "interruptible" we feel they may be.
Now, how does this look to our visitors? From the results of the mystery shopper program I am conducting, the message is that we just don't seem approachable. Sure, we do a great job once the person gets our attention, but from an outsider's perspective, having to actually initiate contact to speak to us sends a pretty important message, that we are either too busy to be interrupted, or that we are at that service point for some reason other than to help people. Furthermore, my gut tells me a good percentage of patrons don't know that we usually have our own workspaces away from the public desk. Many of them probably think we are out there all day long and that only a portion of our time can be spent helping people, the rest of the time being spent on other duties. The proof is in the action of so many patrons who stand patiently by a desk, waiting for the librarian to look up, or who approach tentatively, even offering an apology for the interruption (and by the way, if this happens to you I really hope you are returning the apology for making them ask you for help in the first place).
I am not saying we send these messages or create these perceptions intentionally, but the truth is that a sedentary, passive library service setting, wherein staff wait for questions and/or do other things until a patron approaches us runs the risk of sending exactly those kinds of messages. There is simply no way around that- either you are aware of your surroundings and are looking for engagement, or you are not.
So, with this in mind, I have deemed September "Naked Reference Month" in my department. The idea is that all public desk staff will leave everything behind when they work at our desk. No food, no bookcarts, no stacks of journals to read. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And there are few ground rules to go along with this:
We will revisit this experiment in the beginning of October. I'm hoping we have some insights that I can share here, too.
NOTE:
The photo above came from Tim Morgan's flickr page.
Now, how does this look to our visitors? From the results of the mystery shopper program I am conducting, the message is that we just don't seem approachable. Sure, we do a great job once the person gets our attention, but from an outsider's perspective, having to actually initiate contact to speak to us sends a pretty important message, that we are either too busy to be interrupted, or that we are at that service point for some reason other than to help people. Furthermore, my gut tells me a good percentage of patrons don't know that we usually have our own workspaces away from the public desk. Many of them probably think we are out there all day long and that only a portion of our time can be spent helping people, the rest of the time being spent on other duties. The proof is in the action of so many patrons who stand patiently by a desk, waiting for the librarian to look up, or who approach tentatively, even offering an apology for the interruption (and by the way, if this happens to you I really hope you are returning the apology for making them ask you for help in the first place).
I am not saying we send these messages or create these perceptions intentionally, but the truth is that a sedentary, passive library service setting, wherein staff wait for questions and/or do other things until a patron approaches us runs the risk of sending exactly those kinds of messages. There is simply no way around that- either you are aware of your surroundings and are looking for engagement, or you are not.
So, with this in mind, I have deemed September "Naked Reference Month" in my department. The idea is that all public desk staff will leave everything behind when they work at our desk. No food, no bookcarts, no stacks of journals to read. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And there are few ground rules to go along with this:
- If it seems boring- walk around, find patrons, spruce up the place, try to drum up some business.
- If a staff member needs a break to have a little snack, someone has to provide it. This means we need to pay closer attention to each other- offer breaks, ask if they need help, etc.
- If a staff member has a pressing deadline for a project- someone needs to help them make it happen by taking all or part of their desk shift. That includes me, the manager.
- Lastly, every staff member needs to think "public first, off desk stuff later".
We will revisit this experiment in the beginning of October. I'm hoping we have some insights that I can share here, too.
NOTE:
The photo above came from Tim Morgan's flickr page.
