running with book trucks, seriously?

How else can I leap the way my inner librarian child would have me do?  Demco calls and I answer!  Yes, this spring, I will be running around with book trucks to the tune of a Beatles' song.  Why?  Because it's fun.  Because book trucks rock!  Especially the colored ones.

Librarians just want to have fun!

Librarians Who Do Too Much

This leaping librarian gets overly ambitious sometimes.  I'll bet you know the feeling.  So much needs to be done!  Maybe the local florist would be willing to donate flowers as a way of promoting themselves and supporting the library.  What if we try a display here?  Must order those books!  Uh oh...Suzie is out sick and we need to cover the desks.  Yikes!  Need to do the statistics for the month.

And don't get me started on the kids, the housework and getting the pet to the vet....

Here's a nice read for overdoing librarians:  Five Good Minutes At Work:  100 Mindful Practices To Help You Relieve Stress And Bring Your Best To Work by Jeffrey Brantley, MD and Wendy Millstine, NC

A thought from the book that this libertine librarian is trying to remember right now:  "Be the kindness you seek."  "Kindness starts from within, by taking care of your needs and then helping others.  With each act of kindness, you create the possibility of igniting a wildfire of chain reactions that could have very positive results."

Can we eat cell phones in the library?

This leaping, libertine librarian thinks that cell phones and food are okay in the public library.  Within reason!
If people are quietly texting in the corner, or if they are having a very quiet conversation, what's the problem?  Where's the beef?  On the other hand, if they have a big Mac with all the fixin's....stay at MacDonalds until you're finished, sweetheart!  And, please, do not spill coffee on the laptop!

 

December 10th is Melvil Dewey's Birth Anniversary

Melvil Dewey, American librarian and inventor of the Dewey decimal book classification system was born at Adams Center, NY.  Born Melville Louis Kosuth Dewey (say that three times fast!), he was an advocate of spelling reform, urged use of the metric system and was interested in many other education reforms.

Well, things have changed a bit since Melvil's day.  For example:  at the library where I work....we have put the ESL materials all together.  We don't shelve them in strict call number order.  We place them together by type:Course, Tutors, TOEFL, Vocabulary, etc.

People are looking for user friendly classifications...."Psychology", "Self Help", "Writing", etc.  We librarians are working to make our collections accessible in every sense of the word.

A woman that I work with has put "series labels" on the mysteries.....Not all of the mysteries are as obvious as Sue Grafton's "A is for...." or Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money", etc.  These series labels allow the shelf browser to see what series he or she is looking at and what number in the series he or she is dealing with.  I love this!

Leaping, Libertine Librarians thrill at user friendly shelf arrangements!

I want to marry Chase's Calendar of Events

I don't know if it will be a formal affair or not....but, Chase's Calendar of Events is great for display inspirations!
Did you know that today, November 28th is William Blake's Birth Anniversary?  Think of the lovely poetry display that could accompany this informational tidbit!  And for this Long Island bred girl, Levi's are in my genes and my jeans....Well, November 28th, 1908 was Claude Levi-Strauss' birth anniversary!  And, here is some very good news:  November 1st is National Men Make Dinner Day!  Put this on next year's calendar!

pretty carts!

This leaping, libertine librarian loves loves loves displays.  When I managed an urban branch library, it was fun to buy colorful carts for displays and for book shelving.  Purple, yellow, it didn't matter.  The library where I am currently employed just got some free red carts and I'm thinking...perfect for the holiday season. 

Need more library display inspiration?  Click here!

You say patron, I say potato.....

The libertine, leaping librarian votes for customer!

 

pa·tron

noun \ˈpā-trən, for 6 also pa-ˈtrōⁿ\

Definition of PATRON

1

a : a person chosen, named, or honored as a special guardian, protector, or supporter b : a wealthy or influential supporter of an artist or writer c : a social or financial sponsor of a social function (as a ball or concert)

2

: one that uses wealth or influence to help an individual, an institution, or a cause

3

: one who buys the goods or uses the services offered especially by an establishment

4

: the holder of the right of presentation to an English ecclesiastical benefice

5

: a master in ancient times who freed his slave but retained some rights over him

6

[French, from Middle French] : the proprietor of an establishment (as an inn) especially in France

7

: the chief male officer in some fraternal lodges having both men and women members

— pa·tron·al \ˈpā-trə-n^əl; British pə-ˈtrō-n^əl, pa-\ adjective

 

 

cus·tom·er

noun \ˈkəs-tə-mər\

Definition of CUSTOMER

1

: one that purchases a commodity or service

2

: an individual usually having some specified distinctive trait <a real tough customer>

See customer defined for English-language learners »

See customer defined for kids »

Examples of CUSTOMER

1. She is one of our best customers.
2. She's a pretty cool customer.

Origin of CUSTOMER

Middle English custumer, from custume

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to CUSTOMER

Synonyms: account, client, guest, patron, punter [chiefly British]

Related Words: consumer, end user, user; buyer, correspondent, purchaser, vendee; browser, prospect, shopper, window-shopper; bargainer, haggler; regular

Near Antonyms: broker, merchant, seller, vendor (also vender); shopkeeper, tradesman; black marketer (or black marketeer), fence

see all synonyms and antonyms

[+]more

it's never wrong if it's in their favor

This leaping libertine librarian had a director once who said:  "It is never wrong, I will never fault you for 'erring' on the side of the customer."  What does that mean?  It means not spending thirty or forty minutes arguing about a $2.00 fine.  It means "thinking outside of the book"....how can I find that hidden question?  What is this customer really asking for?  Sometimes, it's just a smile.  Others, it's just to be allowed to check out that book even though we are closing in one minute from now.  Maybe he/she has spent a good chunk of time trying to find that book and it will make all the difference in terms of their school project.

I live by this precept and I am a much more leaping, libertine librarian as a result!

Johnny Cash at the Library!

This "libertine, leaping" librarian has a mother who was another leaping librarian in the day. Naturellement, she uses her town library.  She told me that the library where she lives has concerts on Sunday afternoons.  Most of the time, they are classical.  The director, however, decided to think outside of of the book and invited a talented "Johnny Cash" imitator to perform.  It was standing room only!

All for that lovely, public library most often featured cost of "Free!"  And, Libertine Leaping Librarian's mom loved the Johnny Cash concert!

not great customer service but funny!

Hey there...From one Leaping Librarian to you....this may not be great customer service, but boy, is it funny.

leaping librarian

How About this for a name!  We will leap to new heights of customer service as we get this blog off of the ground! 

social worker? bartender? librarian?

Some days, we are wearing many different hats in our libraries.  Just the other day, I had a gentleman on the phone who wanted the bus schedule to get from my library to the next town...(about two miles).  Then he asked about taxis.  After that, he asked about getting a flight!

Early in my library career, I had a woman on the phone who said, "I just read The Power of Positive Thinking.  Did it help me?"

Working in a public library, one hears and sees all sorts of interesting things!

Libertine librarian!

One who defies established religious precepts; a freethinker.
There you have it, the definition of a libertine.

It seems to me that freethinking is part of what makes librarians great!  We encourage thinking...We like things like free speech, freedom of information, education....And that is part of the customer service that we provide.  Therefore, I am renaming this blog from "outstanding customer service in libraries" to the libertine librarian.  It has some cache, doesn't it?  

Can we re-"kindle" our love of libraries?

My partner's birthday is coming this Saturday, December 3rd.  Shh...Do not tell him that I am getting him the brand new Kindle Fire!  Is this a sell out on my part?  I don't think so!  Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I believe that there is room for the library and amazon.com and all of the new gizmos coming down the pike...

Librarians can help answer people's questions. 

• "Can I download these Overdrive titles on to my kindle? "
• "Where can I find this book? " 
• "My son just gave me a kindle and I'm not sure how it works....."

We answer these questions for our users everyday. 
 

Day after Thanksgiving musings

She came to the Circulation Desk wearing a beautiful scarf, multicolored and splendid.
"What a lovely scarf!"  I enthused.
"The design came from one of your books," she smiled.
Although I can only knit my "brow", I was happy.

Plus, the book that she'd been waiting for with more colorful knitting patterns had just come in and she was thrilled!

internal customer service OR why I love our tech librarian!

Okay.  I love our tech person.  Here's why:  Today our circ desk receipt printer was very, very askew.  The receipts were printing full title records....I mean, every detail so that the titles took lines and lines and reams and reams of paper.  So, I went to college.  I went to library school.  I'm well read.  (Look at the pile of chick lit by my bed if you don't believe me!).  I cleverly went into the manager controlled options on our printer and tried cutting down the amount of width on the receipts.  Guess what?  It didn't work.  Sigh.  

So, I called him in.  Our tech guy.  And he said, without missing a beat:  "Try turning the computer and the printer off and then turning it on.  Call me if that doesn't work."

So....it worked!

Ladies and gentlemen, before you call that tech librarian, turn the machine off and then turn it on again!

"Today I am thankful for....tech people!"

send me your stories

Have you seen something stellar at a library or somewhere else that really inspired you?
Send it to me and I'll post it on this blog!

I'm glad I'm a librarian today!

This morning, my partner Dave was on the phone.  He was trying to get a human being on the line.  Dave patiently punched in his bank card number, his social security number, that little three number code thingy on the back of the card.  He listened to a long history of deposits and transactions.  When I came home from work, he was on hold but hopeful.  After eight hours of being on the phone, he might yet get a live person......

Okay, I'm exaggerating.  He was only on hold for about 15 minutes, but still, that is a long time!

And, the bank had made a change without telling him first. They were no longer giving the same percentage cash back that they had originally promised.  This, even though they had said in the prior month's statement that the amount of cash back would remain constant.

Here's what I love about my job.  We always announce policy changes well in advance.  We do put people on hold at times, but your odds of getting a live person are excellent and usually within a few minutes!

Welcome to my blog!

Hello there, fellow library lovers!  Welcome to my new blog!  I propose to celebrate the delight that we all experience when experiencing that "knock your socks off" customer service.  It doesn't have to be a grand multi million dollar experience.  Sometimes just a friendly face and an empathic listener makes all of the difference to our customers.  Do you remember that thoughtful librarian who went out of his or her way to get you what you were looking for?  That is outstanding library customer service.

It can be as small as changing the amount of time you place things on the hold shelf for your patrons from four to seven days.  We did that at my library and, boy, people are happier for it!

Together we will look at some of the great moments in library customer service that have truly enhanced the lives of all of those who use our libraries.

Ready?  Let's get started!