Reference Desk Observation, September 26

I feel I should preface this by saying that this is not the first time I have worked at our reference desk. Because we are so short staffed, everyone has had to cover in other fields. Luckily for me and other library staff, I needed to complete this project anyways, so it worked out pretty great.

My first shadowing experience was on Saturday, September 26th. I worked with Nieca Nowels, the department manager of Adult Services. One of the first things I noticed was that the desk simply said "Ask Here." The old "reference" sign now lays on top of Nieca's desk, a memory of the library jargon that we often assume everyone understands. I think the "ask here" sign makes the desk much less intimidating and makes us librarians more approachable. Less smarty-pants, if you will.

We received our information primarily through two ways: phone and in person. While the library does operate an internet conversation with other patrons, more often than not, it is very difficult to reach a librarian immediately through these ways. With recent budget cuts in the state of Ohio, our situation is not uncommon. I found it exceptionally difficult to always practice good patron service simply because there were so many people steadily throughout the day. If I had been receiving e-mails, texts, and ims, I honestly don't think I could have done even a subpar job at communicating with that number of people. While this is not unusual for this library, especially on Saturdays, the low level of staffing is something we're all coping with.

I think it's important that I share with you who our patrons are. In short, they are everyone. Being in adult services doesn't mean children won't come up with their parents and pose questions, as they should be able to. Westerville is also a college town attached to Columbus, OH, so we have a large number of students. Being the only library in Westerville we also get the majority of its residents, as well as those of the booming suburban areas north of here whom, as of yet, have no closer library. We are swamped, to say the least.

The reference desk is also an area where patrons can borrow laptops and reserve meeting rooms. Although we are located right next to a large tech center (about 15 PCs and 5 Macs), laptops are the desired tool. While it is very easy to keep track of who has loaned out what (we check all items out on their card in addition to keeping their driver's license until the laptop is returned), it still means that a large number of people are waiting in line for requests that don't take up a large amount of time. Unfortunately, if one librarian is on the phone with a patron's question and the other librarian is helping a patron sign up for free computer classes, this can mean that a large number of people line up at the desk. And even more unfortunately, waiting makes patrons angry, which we sometimes hear about.

Like I said, I found it difficult to keep my head above water, much less spend the amount of time with each patron as they deserved. I genuinely felt bad that I couldn't have spent more time with them, asking follow up questions. I felt as if I were in a situation where I really needed to herd people along, especially when one patron attempted to enter a religious discussion with my not-so-enthusiastic coworker.

I'm hoping that the next time I work will be considerably slower so that I can work on two things:

1. Improving my interactions with patrons. Being more friendly and less hurried as well as following through with them until they are completely satisfied.

2. Having the time to respond to reference questions through other mediums, particularly e-mail and im since the library does not currently have a texting system set up.

I sincerely hope it is less frenzied next time!