Back in the Saddle April 7, 2010
Posted by k3nd in Change, Staff.Tags: desk, Disturbance, Staff
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Everybody occasionally needs time to step back and smell the roses. To enjoy the moment, reaffirm what’s important in life, and work towards it, or else you will find it’s too late. Renewal is an important factor in life. There are many paths to take. Many may seem easy on the surface but fail to deliver in the long run. Often the harder path will see you wanting to turn back. However, stick it out and the rewards will be worth it. Well that’s enough from the enlightened guru.
The same principle applies to libraries. Don’t get too caught up in processes and policies which are past their use by date. Jump clear of the cogs and visualize the organisation for what it is. Directed and motivated by people, not people being a slave to the organisation. Be part of the machine, not of the machine.
Ask everybody how procedures can be improved. Take all suggestions on board and treat each with the respect it deserves. To quote the Desiderata, “Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others,
even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.” Well maybe not as brutal as that, but you get my drift.
There will be the doubters, those driven by the machine. Those unable to see the forest for the trees. Those protecting power bases, vested interests, and comfort zones. Hopefully those types are falling by the wayside as they are being swept along by the torrent of change. As the saying goes, it’s not rocket science, just plain common sense.
Out with the old, in with the old. October 26, 2009
Posted by k3nd in Staff.Tags: Staff
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I was recently speaking to a colleague of mine during a most non-rewarding session of shelf-checking. A jovial and most thought provoking chap, he relayed the story of his visit to a newly refurbished library.
Rebuilt from the bottom up, sparkling new computers, new furniture, and shiny glass and metal welcomed the eager borrower, promising a library experience never before encountered. A “library of the future” in every sense of the word. The visit was going along very well. He had struck up conversation with a friendly staff member. The young man showed my colleague around and told him of the services provided by the library.
Then disaster struck. A crusty old librarian type broke up the conversation. You know the type. “Get back to work..what are you doing??” Then as my colleague went to venture further on, he was impeded by another crusty old librarian type: “Get out, get out, it’s 4.00 o’clock!!”
His visit to this new and exciting library was made all the less enjoyable due to the rudeness of a few old dinosaurs. The moral to the story? It’s not necessarily the physical nature of a library which denotes it’s stature, but the actions and personality of it’s staff.
And the Walls came Tumbling down September 29, 2009
Posted by k3nd in Customers, Reference, Staff.Tags: Customers, desk, Reference, Staff
3 comments
Approaching a library reference desk is a daunting task for many. I liken it to the movie “Oliver Twist” when the little boy went up to the dude asking for more gruel. “More!!!????!!!!” Usually its a serious looking person who gives the impression they do not wish to be disturbed. It’s a throw back to the bad old days when the library was seen as the gatekeeper of knowledge, rather than the facilitator.
I see no reason at all to have a reference desk. In an action akin to the demolishing of the Berlin wall, the reference desk walls need to come down as well. In an organisation where all staff are highly trained and knowledgeable, everybody take on the role of the reference desk. Once again I beckon back to the idea of the “roving librarian”. Get out of that seat and actually help people! Go to the people, because, most of the time, they sure as hell ain’t gonna go to you.
Think about yourself walking into a shop. Isn’t it pleasant when staff approach you and ask if you need help. Why should a library be any different? The excuse that it has always been done this way no longer cuts it. Take it on board and you will find that your skills will increase, you will be happier doing the job, and customer service will skyrocket.
It’ll have to wait till I get off the desk July 4, 2009
Posted by k3nd in Staff, Technology.Tags: Staff, Technology
2 comments
The life of a systems librarian is a perplexing and unique one. Does one become an IT professional first and then move into libraries? Or does one become a librarian first and learn IT? My guess is the latter.
The important word here is “librarian”. Even though you may be totally imersed in PCs, networking, training, installations, troubleshooting and maintaining websites, you will also be asked to do your daily shifts on the circulation and reference desks as well, returning, issuing and answering phone renewals. You are still a librarian, not an I.T. Pro, even though it is expected all systems are running perfectly.
Having a foot in both camps can make one feel like an imposter. Having none of the I.T. qualifications, but doing all the work. The question arises, “why should we train up this librarian in I.T. when we have an I.T. Department?” And that’s a fair enough question.
Future Libraries will demand all staff to be computer literate. I don’t envisage an I.T. librarian as such. Sure, there may be the person who has a greater knowledge of networking, or the guy who is a whiz on the web, or the dude who does installations. Broadly speaking, all future information professionals will be “I.T. Professionals” in their own right.
The library, as the focal point of the Community, will demand a greater share of I.T. budgets. I.T. professionals who once never thought of working in a library, will be entised by greater salaries and state of the art facilities. Although it will be important to drum into them the public library ethos. Until then, I think it is feasible for a library to have a dedicated and qualified I.T. employee who is not a librarian. Those libraries will leave the others eating dust.
Where’s that darn assistant gone? June 21, 2009
Posted by k3nd in Staff.Tags: Staff
3 comments
I’ve always been of the opinion that you could grab a person off the street, train them for a week or so, and they could do the work of a present day librarian or library assistant. As long as the individual possesses a commitment to customer service and is willing to learn, they are in. I can hear the yells from those library lecturers. Sorry guys, you will have to change your course structure me thinks.
This situation will be changing in the future. “Librarians” will need to be information professionals, keep up to date with technology trends, know how to market a product, and be excellent teachers and communicators. There goes my theory of “anybody” working in a library, along with the average salary. A new professionalism based on the need to master and then pass on this new information technology to the public will revolutionise staff competencies to a level never witnessed before, along with salaries.
The differentiation between “librarians” and library “assistants” will in the future be no more. It will be a flat organisational structure where we are all information professionals, with customers expecting the same level of service from all workers, not just the chosen few gatekeepers of knowledge. Anyway, with RFID, along with the outsourcing of processing and other mundane duties, the position of library assistant will be redundant. No more will the “librarians” be looking down on their assistants, nor assistants be awestruck by the sight of their superiors!!
Where oh Where have my Reference Skills Gone? June 18, 2009
Posted by k3nd in Reference, Staff.Tags: Reference, skills, Staff
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If your library does not have RFID or an automated computer booking system, there is a good chance that you have lost your reference skills. I know I have. It’s crazy, but I find that there is no time to help customers with reference queries. Isn’t that what the aim of the library is? Or is it to manually check in/check out items, and book customers onto the flamin internet!
I have noticed a considerable drop off on the amount of reference questions that have been directed my way. I guess this is the result of people having access to the internet, and the numbers are growing. Are customers afraid to ask questions to the librarian? I don’t know. Maybe they see that you are busy issuing and returning items and don’t want to disturb you. Certainly the numbers of people attending public libraries are increasing, especially in this period of economic difficulty. It makes sense that reference questions should be out there.
When they do come I have to search the far reaches of my brain and think where that information is. It takes a few moments for the cogs to get started, and you think yes, this is an enjoyable part of the job. You learn something as does the customer. Better than mindlessly issuing 15,000 graded reader books and stamping every one.
In my mind, the question arises, should there be a reference desk. Shouldn’t we all, as information professionals, have the knowledge, interest and endeavour to be able to direct customers to the relevant areas? In the ideal situation of RFID and automated booking systems being in place, a couple of librarians would be able to “rove” the library. These are our “roving librarians”, our “roving reference desks”.
Until RFID and automated computer booking systems are common place in libraries, there will always be questions unanswered, and librarians skills being wasted.
Where have all the Librarians gone? June 11, 2009
Posted by k3nd in Staff.Tags: Staff
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In a library of the future there will be less staff employed. It is plain common sense.
Firstly, there will be no need for the trusty cataloguer. The trend is towards the outsourcing of this activity to booksellers, which I agree with, as most of the time there is only the need for the addition of a tag or two.
Secondly, let’s not forget the processing staff. Those trusty souls who sit valiantly at a desk and meticulously cover books. Outsource it with the cataloguing. Makes sense. Sure as the sun sets in the west, it ain’t developing their skills, and there is more productive work to do on the library floor.
Thirdly, if your library is lucky enough to have RFID installed, all returns and issues are automated. Therefore, there is no need for staff to carry out these duties. (Thank God). Only a person to transfer the items from returns area to trolley for shelving.
This brings me to the point of employing I.T. savvy staff. In the library of the future, librarians (for use of a better word) will be the new teachers. They will need to educate customers on the new technologies. No point directing them to the staff member who has the knowledge. What if they are at lunch or not in that day? Being tech savvy will be part of their position. All librarians will be gatekeepers of I.T. knowledge. Not just a few.
FutureLibrary 