Boundaries of Library 2.0

I know, I know, customer service is at the core of Library 2.0. Finding new ways to connect with customers and redefining how we connected in the old channels. But where are the boundaries of Library 2.0? At what point do we say, “You’re just going to have to look elsewhere for help on that.”?

Today I had a woman come in with some fines on her card. I don’t believe in fines, but the policy exists none the less. She explained that she told someone they were going to be in Florida for vacation and they should have put a note on the card. I explained that there was no such note, and that she can call if she needs to renew the items, to which she responded, “I think it’s ridiculous to have to call from Florida to renew some library books.” To which I wanted to respond, “I think it’s ridiculous to treat you differently than any other customers simply because you’re on vacation in Florida.”

So, what would you do? How do you deal with the customer who wants the paper held for him because once a week someone gets to it first? Or the one who holds up the checkout line with a two page list of requests and simply refuses to use the OPAC (whether it sucks or not). I know our policies are outdated, but does that mean we should not have any?

I need to get the glut of actual posts I have sitting in my box here, and stop complaining.

Technorati tags: Library 2.0, Library Service

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You’re currently reading “Boundaries of Library 2.0,” an entry on Info Breaker

Published:: 10.20.06 / 2am

Category:: Library 2.0

Talk Out Loud in Your Library « checking out and checking in 10.22.06 / 9am

[...] We can integrate “new and improved” programs and products only when we are sure they are ready and able.Â This is what Library 2.0 is all about, what the Journey from Good to Great means.Â If Web 2.0 tools and online social networking are helpful to your taxpayers, then great!Â If not, find out what is to their benefit.Â In some community libraries itÂ possibly could be filling multiple requests or renewing items for vacationing patrons. [...]

jessamyn 10.23.06 / 3am

I love this story. It sent me off spinning on one of my own. We had a small collection of folks at my old public library who wouldn’t use the OPAC and we’d look up books for them. Not a problem for one or two people but not a scalable service. Trying to figure out how to set up policies so that people get equitable service seems to be where it’s at. Since the library has a finite amount of money and the librarians have a finite number of hours in the day to customize their services to individual patrons, we should be able to be firm but pleasant with unreasonable requests.

Put them on to “no list” for later and perhaps revisit whether vacationing patrons need to be responsible for their own renewals, but stick to your guns until you go through the process to evaluate your own systems yourself.

Anarchivist 10.25.06 / 11pm

I was amused that Jessamyn’s comment sounds just like our situation with the patron who comes in with a list of forty books she wants us to look up and put on hold for her. Some of which are on the shelves, some of which aren’t published yet, some of which we can’t find the existence of. In this case, if she were willing to do some of the actual work herself, she could actually get the items more quickly. But the “firm…with unreasonable requests” didn’t go over very well there. Nor did handing off the project to a specific person to deal with. When she called back and wanted to reference her list, I tried to explain that I could help her in other ways, but the list wasn’t physically there for me to immediately look it. That’s when she said I was lazy and should be fired.

Now, obviously this is an extreme case, and falls into the “some people are never happy” category. But it does highlight the sometimes no-win nature of our customer service conundrums. However we officially want to deal with her, she is going to keep coming in, and keep calling, and will make the staff miserable unless she gets what she wants.

Don’t know the answer, but sometimes I do get a little nostalgic for the days when I was a youthful patron and was expected to treat the librarians with respect or get out! I know that’s never going to come back, but it’s part of why the idea of retail-style customer service makes me bang my head, since that certainly doesn’t seem to encourage in the patrons respect for the system or the idea that we all need to share our resources.

Is It All About The Customer? « Life as I Know It 11.05.06 / 8am

[...] Bottom line – of course, it is all about the customer. Without patrons, there would be no need for libraries. However, how far can we realistically go to meet the needs of customers???? Jessamyn West asks “how do we learn to set new boundaries?” in a post over on librarian.net. This is an important question. She asks it in response to a post over on Info Breaker about a patron who thought her books should have been renewed by the library because she was in Florida on vacation (she says that she told someone at the library this bit of information). [...]

Info Breaker » Blog Archive » Have Your People Call My People 05.24.07 / 5am

[...] Walt Crawford has listed my post “The Boundaries of Library 2.0” as a reference in his new book Balanced Libraries and a paper (pdf)Â I wrote oh so long ago showed up in someone elsesÂ (pdf). [...]

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Boundaries of Library 2.0

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