Competency I

Competency I: Use service concepts, principles and techniques to connect individuals or groups with accurate, relevant and appropriate information, starts and ends with consideration for the user. Concepts are ideas. In the library purview, service means projecting a neutral, objective and inclusive image by marketing opposing viewpoints side by side and serving all patrons equally. Because serving users means being helpful, respectful and courteous, staff training should include communication instruction between staff and people with disabilities, ethnic, religious and racial minorities, immigrants, elderly and homeless. The customer care training must emphasize friendly, informative mannerisms and swift, attentive responses. The service training should account for all belief systems, values and points of view. Likewise, the materials should be available in a variety of formats and media, in large text, audio, visual and braille forms. The collections should reflect the user’s interests, needs and culture.

Techniques to support the service principles above are actions. Serving the user means planning and situating libraries to be convenient and easy to access, including convenient hours of operation. They include the staff training above as well as user led library services such as book drops, self-checkout, online material requesting and providing an online public access catalog. Service-focused staff answer correspondence promptly. They are competent technology teachers. The staff continuously evaluate the environment and services for relevance and appropriateness. Staff make themselves available by connecting with the user is some way; making eye contact, offering a smile, saying hello, welcoming users, offering support and informing users of upcoming programs and services. The reference interview is an appropriate time to make sure users’ information needs have been met and ask the user what the library can do better. Meet the user where she is by continually updating concepts of what she needs. Do not impose library logic or jargon on the user. Gather clues to the user’s worldview by listening for metaphors (Harbo, Vibjerg, Hansen, 2012). Use these to create a malleable idea of the user’s needs and meet them. In summary, I understand service principles to be any attitude that improves access to information, and service techniques to be actions that increase access.

I have worked in a sales-centric corporate environment and seen my friends and family work in quota driven sales jobs. The values and duties of non-service jobs do not appeal to my views or skill set. Service is important to me because it affirms my place in society. This position is long-held: I volunteered at a nursing home for five years during my youth and volunteered teaching elementary students for a school year. In all areas of my life, my way of fitting in is to serve. For a decade the objective on my resume has read: Connect patrons to the information they need to be successful. While it grew out of a genuine love for serving the community through library work, my MLIS training has enriched my reasoning and expanded my ability to serve by emphasizing the user’s perspective.

LIBR 200, Information and Society, highlighted the role of users. We learned to think of the library as an environment for meeting their needs. The readings covered issues involved with disseminating information equitably in society. We discussed codes of ethics and central principles of service including user access, internet use, Americans with Disabilities Act standards and intellectual freedom policies. INFO 221 included a unit specific to providing service to users in government libraries. The main message of INFO 221s service unit was to educate users about the process of creating government information so they would have a better experience finding and using the information. Looking back, I see how this strategy opens the dialog about the materials which could foster communication and connection. The education path also fosters a sense of staff neutrality. The coursework linking service to government documents included tests of my ability to find relevant answers to hypothetical user queries that required multiple steps and sources. One of the assignments was a slide presentation on the United States Declassified Documents Database. It expressed service principles by providing instruction and explaining the benefit of using the database to users who might not have considered it for their searches.

Similar service principles dominated INFO 230; Issues in Academic Libraries where I gained experience with the American Library Association Frames. The Frames expanded ideas of service beyond their former bounds by including socially focused interactions with information; synthesizing information across platforms, judging website authenticity, and using social media to access, research and digest information. These new modes of service require new service plans to accommodate shifting user needs.

The coursework for INFO 210 Reference and Information Services, however, was most related to service concepts and techniques. It introduced me to the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA). Our interaction with their principles and guidelines was intimate. For example, one assignment was to link each guideline to elements of an in-person reference desk shadow/ interview experience and critique how closely the librarian adhered to the service goals. The interpersonal skills training for question negotiation was helpful. Those skills included how to serve hostile or disruptive users, the disabled, non-English speaking users and ethnic minorities with consistent respect and neutrality. The course stressed the productive interaction between user, materials and technology. It concluded with an assignment to develop a personal philosophy of librarianship.

I choose the LIBR 210 Personal Philosophy assignment and INFO 230 Discussion #10 as evidence for Competency I because they summarize my view of service and expose my preference towards assertive servant leadership. The picture they portray is of a driven, creative service provider with unabashed passion for library leadership. I choose to include Evidence 3, a transcript of a reference interview that took place during a job shadowing experience for LIBR 210, because it ties one of the librarian’s reference interviews to the RUSA guidelines for library service.

Preparation of my personal philosophy of librarianship began long ago with several formative library experiences. As an undergraduate, I procrastinated initiating a significant research paper until just days before it was due; it may have been hours. I visited with the reference librarian for only two or three minutes on my way to a study group. To my surprise, as I was leaving the group for one of several jobs, the librarian indicated a stack of 10 perfectly relevant materials she had gathered for the research assignment. Her spirit of service was not the only formative aspect of this experience: The specificity of the resources was astounding. I was able to cobble together that undergraduate paper because the resources fit the need, my ability and the overall purpose perfectly. They consisted of primary and secondary sources, government statistics and expert interpretations.

Another positive experience I had because of a librarian’s skills and service attitude involved a grant I won for starting a business. The grant manager required some planning documents, but I had only a fragmented hour or so to learn the material and produce the documents. I called the public librarian. She referred me to a librarian whose sole job was to connect people like me to market research, the relevant compliance and legislative rules, incorporation and tax filing documents. I learned that librarians are heroes who save the day.

Then, my understanding of what other users thought of libraries and librarians was informed by my students at a junior college. Many of them had never had a pleasant experience in a library. They were unaware of the librarian’s role and could not fathom why they should enter a library. The focus of my new-student orientations became to redefine the librarian from a shusher to a personal assistant.

Evidence 1 is a statement of personal philosophy for LIBR 210. I had deleted the assignment, but thankfully, the professor’s e-mail response was in my archive. It is a summary that describes the way I served students by starting at the beginning. I would ask them what my role was. “To serve me (the student)” was the correct answer. I would ask, “What is your role?” The answer was, “Ask for the information I need to be successful!” I would ask, “Like what?” During orientations, I trained the students to follow that question with something. The purpose of making this exchange routine was to get students thinking seriously about their needs and practice identifying and articulating what information would benefit them. This demographic was not used to thinking beyond paying rent or arranging transportation, so my job was to expose them to the library/ librarian as a path towards their goals. If they could not answer with an information need, I would prod them with a question like, “So you need these self-help books on physical intimacy and step parenting?” to which the students would pause and check in with their state of affairs. I tried to always toss a reward such as holiday candy or bus passes to students who answered thoughtfully. The library flourished. Circulation and traffic went up, students used the meeting spaces and enjoyed the resources. They scheduled writing assistance as well as information literacy and technology services.

Evidence 2 is a discussion post for INFO 230, Issues in Academic Libraries. It is significant because it shows growth. My professor was challenging the class to think about specific techniques to engage faculty with library services. In another assignment, we wrote sample letters that offer assistance to faculty. The post is a synthesis of the readings, professor’s lectures and the application of the aggressive service leadership described above, to faculty. The discussion post describes service techniques such as providing follow-up information literacy instruction, adding value by including the audio-visual librarian and offering interactive materials. It was a lesson in how to serve a cohort who may not be aware of library services or be interested in them. It helped me understand that informing users of their options is part if the librarian’s job. It should not be left to the marketing department or general manager.

Evidence 3 rounds out the service competency by exhibiting the amount of attention I was required to invest analyzing reference desk scripts for their application to RUSA service standards. The first step of creating this chart was to schedule a reference desk job shadowing experience. Then, during the appointment, I scripted several of the reference interviews I witnessed. The next step was to review the service guidelines against the scripts, looking for the best example of the guidelines. Then, I compared the guidelines with the script line by line. The great lesson in this exercise was; guidelines that seemed superfluous at first, turned out to mirror the reference interviews perfectly. The librarian I job shadowed was also surprised that his interviews echoed the guidelines so consistently. I learned that such standards can help me become a more professional communicator by keeping my reference interviews focused on proven methods.

The lasting impression the Competency I experiences taught me was to embrace my strength. Before the MLIS coursework, I looked confident, but was internally hesitant about including faculty, advertising services and advocating library resources. I was not sure I should be challenging the students to change their information habits, increase their information literacy and stand up for their information needs. Now, with some relief, I understand that it is acceptable to be an aggressive user-advocate and that using servant leadership to increase resources, services and awareness are positive attributes even though some of my colleagues opposed my enthusiasm.

In future roles, I look forward to using service attitudes and techniques to enjoy my job! Service is the aspect of librarianship that I most embrace, and doing a thing well is fun. I will connect users to services, and resources. The resources I collected and service skills I practiced will keep my reference interviews focused, neutral, effective and swift. I will not hesitate to employ the meticulous methods I learned from my professors: evaluate your work against the established standards collected by the American Library Association on their Standards and Guidelines page even if it means recording my communications. I will use the standards approach to improve. My application of service principles at my future position will radiate to colleagues, users and the community.

References

Harbo, K., Vibjerg Hansen, T. (2012). Getting to know library users' needs: Experimental ways to user-centered library innovation. Liber Quarterly: The Journal of European Research Libraries, 21(3/4), 367-385.

Evidence 1

Snow,

I went ahead and adapted your comments for the final week of LIBR 210 for the fall, and I wanted to share with you how I used your comments. Let me know if you have any suggestions or corrections.

Professor- Name omitted for privacy; Comments used with permission

Week 16 Overview comments:

I hope this class has helped you decide if being a reference librarian appeals to you! After all, working with the public is not everyone's cup of tea, so to speak!! As a result, I think it is important to have a passion for working with the public if you want to be a reference librarian. To illustrate what I mean by finding something that you can be passionate about, let me share the story of Snow Marlonsson, a student I had in Summer 2014.

Snow works with students in an academic library setting with junior college students who had bad prior experiences with librarians, did not know what a librarian was for, and had no interest in using the library. When she first took over the library, the environment was full of “stop” messages. Signage read: Don’t this, don’t that, and you can’t… There was a stop sign on a make-shift gate separating the librarian’s area from the students’!

Snow started changing this negative environment by using new student orientations, assemblies, and class presentations to re-educate students and staff about the value of the library. She tried hard to position the library as the safe-place to explore, discover and grow. She brought in soft-seating and live plants, and she also asked the students to imagine they had a secretary or personal assistant who could connect them to the tools they need to be successful:

Snow found a way to teach students to expect that the library was a place that would meet their information needs and was a safe place for them! To help in this process, she uses a mantra and hallway ritual:

Librarian: The librarian’s job is to support you with the information you need to be successful. Your job is to be successful.

What is your job?

Students: Be successful.

Librarian: What is my job?

Students: Support me with the information I need to be successful.

Librarian: Successful at what?

Students: Fill in the blank with funny and serious responses based on whatever is going on in their lives at the time.

Snow would then toss the students whatever she could get for them—bottled juice, holiday candy, bus passes.

As you can see, Snow is passionate about what she does! She would describe herself as a shy, mild person, but she gets animated about librarianship because she sees it as her way of making a difference. She says that it is an empowering way to mentor and model good communication and high expectations to students, coworkers and the community. As Snow put it, "To me, a library is a sacred space where anything is possible." I hope you all find something about librarianship that energizes you the same way!

Evidence 2

Discussion 10

Time, once lost cannot be regained- a fact deeply felt by faculty. Between teaching and scholarship, demands on faculty time are real (Budd p. 271-272). Therefore, I suggest teaching faculty how librarians can speed their research by improving their access to relevant materials. My first amazing experience with an academic librarian was when, I asked a librarian a question and then went to a study group. After the study group the librarian directed me to a stack of books for my research project. I didn’t even know she was going to turn our conversation into a hunt for the ideal materials. That was a high quality research experience because the librarian filtered the materials so vigorously. Everything was relevant, which eliminated time wasted on searching. Some years later, I provided new faculty orientations that emphasized this service. When the new faculty used the service, the existing faculty—some of which had been quite stand-off-ish, clamored to participate. Later, I ran into that assertive librarian at a conference and discovered that she was promoted to Reference Department Manager. I have met colleagues and students who reject our servant philosophy, but it has been my experience that less enthusiastic librarians do not get the best opportunities (I could go on with more and better examples…). After you save faculty time; collaborate.

To demonstrate collaborative willingness, Budd suggests (Budd p. 273-274) that librarians contact faculty and offer to teach a specific skill, such as using secondary sources during a class. This approach is thought to be more successful than general offers of assistance. And the psychology of persuasion agrees: Do not make the receiver feel inferior by offering help, ask how you can be useful instead. What I like about this approach is, it invites specific answers. For example, the faculty can refuse the offer and suggest another way to assist. This measure opens a dialog that probably would not have started without the initial offer. There is a lot going on below the surface. Extending an offer informs the faculty of your enthusiasm and hints at your attitude about your role in the university—especially if you have servant leadership style that retains a high comfort level with assertiveness. This overt style covertly suggests to faculty that if they do not take advantage of the service, their colleagues will; possible placing their time and outcomes slightly behind the efficiency and success of peers’.

After collaborating, provide teaching assistance, especially if you are working in a two-year institution (Budd p. 272). Provide materials that address different learning styles and present different, possibly more memorable aspects of a topic. Involve the audio/ visual librarian. Identify interactive materials. Provide access to professional networks that include live presenters/ demonstrators. Not only do these measures enrich the learning experience, they free the teacher to spend time doing other tasks. Emphasize your role as the supporter. Help faculty see that success is being connected to the right information and that they have their own team of personal assistants whose job is to do that.

Budd, J. (2012). The Changing Academic Library: Operations, Culture, Environments. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

Evidence 3