studpoet’s Neighborhood

library, originally uploaded by jessiqua.


(It's been a minute since I posted over here in Vox-ville, but seeing as how I haven't had the "how much can I talk about the things about my job that annoy me" discussion with my boss yet, "better safe than sorry" is the order of the day. )

As many of you know, I made the transition from corporate life to public librarianship. While the transition has been largely smooth, and while I still enjoy my job very much, every day I come into contact with a service ethic that stands in opposition to my own. This is the latest example: while working at one of the library's information desks, a customer came up and asked for a sheet of paper. Because I didn't know where we kept spare reams of paper, I reached inside the printer, pulled out a sheet, and handed it to him.  After the customer walked away, a colleague pulled me aside and said "We never give up the paper. Never."

Now, I'll grant that we have a recycling bin at the end of the desk for scrap paper (which I completely forgot about), but I couldn't believe that this was the one element of my job performance that the staffer chose to criticize.

When I read through library listservs, or when I encounter images of librarians in popular culture (Buffy's Giles excepted), I often encounter the image of the library as a foreboding, unwelcoming institution that is more concerned with keeping order and adhering to arbitrary rules than it is to delivering top-notch customer service. It's no wonder that some people prefer bookstores, and why some others would rather turn to Google for quick information service. We seem to be a surly, stuffy bunch.

My idea of customer service and end-to-end user experience was shaped -- for better or worse -- by four years spent slogging through corporate trenches. I ultimately learned that I didn't belong in the corporate world, but the one valuable lesson that I did learn was that it is much easier to say yes than not, particularly for requests that can be carried out with a minimum of effort.  The patron asked for paper, and I gave it to him,  an exchange that took no more than 10 seconds from start to finish. Compare it to the alternate scenario: The patron asks for paper, and I say "No, but if you look at the end of the desk, you'll find a recycling bin with scrap paper in it, and you can have as much of that as you want." At this point I've introduced a level of unnecessary complexity, created a barrier for the patron, albeit a small one, and this barrier has an impact on the patron's ability to complete their task quickly and easily.

I haven't worked in a library long enough to understand the reasons behind this particular rule, but it seems to me that library service would become more efficient -- and friendlier -- places if we just did away with those insignificant service policies and developed a culture of customer service.