Marion or Attila ?

As I was typing up my notes from the ARSL Conference in Gatlinburg, TN, I came across a statement made by George Needham. George is the VP for Member Services of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). He and Joan Frye Williams ususally speak together at conferences and are described as: "Two of the library community's leading consultants and thinkers." They have spoken at the ARSL Conference in the past, but this year George's speaking partner was Chrystie Hill, author of "Inside, Outside & Online".

In Gatlinburg, George made the observation that: "there are two places your are presumed guilty, traffic court and the circulation desk at the library." Wow! I guess he's right!

As I was walking out at the end of the day earlier in the week, I stopped at the circulation desk to check out books for an older gentleman that was waiting. He was returning a stack and wanting to check out a stack. He didn't return his books into the book return at the desk, he was holding onto them and "insisted" that I check them back in, 1. to make sure he didn't forget to return one and 2. to make sure they were indeed being checked in so "he didn't get a phone call or letter". And, wouldn't you know it, while I was checking his books out, another gentleman came up to the desk with an overdue letter in hand! And "my" guy says "See!".

So, I guess I'm asking: have we indeed changed our reputation from "Marion the Librarian" to "Attila the Hun"? And, how do we "undo" it?

I believe we have already "figured that out" with the brainstorming and discussions we have had during the regional network planning; the "thinking outside the box" ideas like: fine free Fridays, not charging fines in the children's department, having a one-card, seamless network for providing efficient libraries services in the two-county region...

Now of all times is the time to focus on the user and our community. Diane said, "figure out what you are to the community and give it to them". You cannot be everything to everyone. The economy won't allow; the funding won't allow. Ask your community what they need from you and no matter the answer, give it to them. The overall message has been received loud and clear: "libraries in PA are not mandatd services". We cannot and should not count on the state as our primary funding source.

How can we expect the public to support us if we aren't giving them the services that they need and want. If you were to poll your customers to find out if they would still use your library if they had to pay a subscription fee yearly, would they? Or do you think they might start to "shop around" for the library that gave them what you were not? We need to be customer friendly (if you haven't noticed the retailers are ALL lowering prices, training staff in excellent customer service and offering lay-away!); we need to make it as easy as possible for someone to use our services; we need to think like a customer and not a librarian. Are we spending too much time "petting the inventory" (Joan Fry Williams) or are we trying to get information into the hands of our customers as quickly as possible? Could your library pass the "1965 test"? (Karen Hyman)

Let's start by doing "off the wall" things like eliminating overdues and instead allowing patrons to pay "extended user fees". (George Needham) This idea fits nicely with Elina's idea of asking patrons what loan periods they want. Another idea from ARSL that came from the small/medium library automation product Apollo: collect user emails and phone numbers. Call and/or email customers three days before their items are due to remind them to either return or renew online.

You need to answer: "What's your pickle?" Check out Bob Farrell's "give em' the pickle" customer service video on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJjf6ifg7U0

Here is a statistic from George Needham that should put it all in perspective:
"Google answers more questions in a minute than a reference librarian does in an entire career."