OK, fine, I’ll admit it! I was wrong about the
library persona! Or at least most of my skepticism was unfounded. As I came in
to class last Tuesday to share my experience with the Customer Service
exercise, I found that my classmates too were encountering the dilemma of not
necessarily agreeing with the idea of a persona but nevertheless enjoying the
experience of having an “expert” cater to your outlandish, vague queries. I
recounted my tales of both exceptional and lackluster service with enthusiastic
nods from my group members in response. My comment on being shown the computer
monitor in one interaction to reveal that the service professional was googling
my question elicited excited responses from Sarah and Nicco, asking why that
particular action had caused offense. I said that the service professional was
conducting a search that I could have already done myself. This comment was amplified
by Emily’s very apt comparison when recalling her work experience at the Ben
& Jerry’s shop – why should a customer buy our product when they can go
across the street to Walgreen’s and get the same thing, for likely cheaper?
The answer…is that there is not an easy answer. Librarians
bring a unique skill set when interacting with their patrons, combining service
and technological literacy to connect with their communities. Yet, this
advantage is not always apparent when convenient information is just a Google
search away. For this reason, librarians must
adopt the persona of expertise in order to provide worthwhile reference
interactions. Most recently, the American Library Association has taken up this
expertise ethos when highlighting their new 45-115 ALA Federal Initiative,
which is built on communicating to policymakers in the executive and
legislative branches that libraries have a part to play in a national agenda
and that librarians hold value as “experts.” [1] While adopting the persona
might be a burdensome task, the ALA example demonstrates that it is absolutely necessary
to display to patrons and the wider public the significance of the library as
an institution. By marketing the aura of librarian as expert, the library can
continue to function as a vibrant cornerstone of our society.
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| (Image received from ala.org in the announcement of the 45-155 ALA Federal Initiative) |
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[1] "45-115 ALA Federal Initiative." Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. October 04, 2016. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/federallegislation/45-115-ala-federal-initiative.
Nice thinking here about the need to articulate the professional roles of librarians and to override old stereotypes. This is part of why I love to visit other libraries: seeing our practices in new situations, practiced by new faces, helps me think about them in new ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we must adopt the persona of experts but I would almost take it a step further, I would argue that we ARE (or will be by the end of out time at UMSI) experts. I feel this is why having a Master's degree is so important, we are learning the skills to be experts in finding and connecting people with reliable sources of information. That being said, those who work in libraries would do well to remember their training, which, unfortunately, isn't always the case.
ReplyDeleteI also am curious on your thoughts about the persona in a customer service arena, aside from demonstrating expertise. Do you find overt politeness to be fake and necessary or enjoyable and an important component of the reference interview?
Good tie-in to national efforts and happenings of the ALA, I was glad to learn of that initiative. Librarians have a tough tightrope to walk in this regard, on the one hand wanting to affirm their role as 'experts' and on the other wanting to be seen as approachable and friendly.
ReplyDeleteI also found it very interesting how some people liked being shown a screen and others did not. Beyond the fact that one preformed a search you could do and the other did not, it seems to me like there is a bit of tension between two of the reference librarians main jobs. There seems to be a constant teeter-totter between attempting to educate the patron to do their own searches and getting them the information itself. I believe it all comes down to reading the individual patron, giving them what they want regardless of our personal views on the subject. Then they are more likely to come back and the more they come back, the more we have a chance to teach them.
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