Category Archives: Services

Advocacy, CMLE, Communication, Services

Day Eleven of the CMLE Summer Fun Library Tour!

Wood photo.jpg

When we have some time, as we generally do over the summer, it’s good to take a moment to reflect back on our history and all the accomplishments we have made. This includes the advances we have made in our profession!

Today we look at an American woman who helped to create and modernize libraries in China: Mary Elizabeth Wood.

“Wood’s first major library project in China consisted of the establishment of the Boone School Library, and she acted as the chief advocate and director of this institution. Construction began on June 1, 1909, and was completed with the library’s opening in 1910.[2]The collection initially consisted of a mixture of secular and religious works, as well as photographs, with 3,000 volumes total in Chinese and English.[2] Under Wood’s leadership, the library rapidly developed, and within several years the collection had grown to 12,000 volumes total, with 5,000 in English and 7,000 in Chinese, as well as approximately 60 serial publications.[2]

Not content to serve only Boone School’s small academic community, Wood expanded her library outreach efforts by opening the library’s reading rooms to the general public and offering its auditorium as a venue for public lectures.[2] These lecture series, which covered “science, history, and current events,” were a major attraction, drawing hundreds of attendees in the area.[2] With the assistance of her student Shen Zhurong, who acted as interpreter,[3] Wood also started a set of traveling book collections of English works translated into Chinese for use in Chinese government schools.[2] Shen and Wood became focused on disseminating library resources as widely as possible; their “mobile libraries” expanded access to neighboring cities, serving a combined population of 1.3 million, and they even hired workers to carry books up to mountain resorts popular with missionary families.[3]

Despite these efforts, the general public reaction to library advocacy in China remained tepid, and Wood determined that the key to advancing the cause was the professionalization of librarians within China. Since there were no library schools in China at the time, in 1914 Wood sent Shen abroad to receive library training at the Library School of the New York Public Library.[3] Another of her students, Hu Qingsheng, was to follow Shen’s path in 1917.[3] Wood hoped that training Chinese students in Western principles of modern librarianship would spark a revolution of the profession in China, with American-educated professionals returning to share their experience and knowledge with their peers. Upon completing their degrees, both Shen and Hu joined Wood in her next endeavor: establishing a library school within China.”

(I have taught for many years at Simmons College in Boston, one of the library schools Wood attended; and her picture was hanging on a wall to commemorate her achievements!)

Services, Tech

Transforming Teen Services: Making in the Library While Learning to Fail

http://www.ala.org/yalsa

(From the YALSA blog, by )

“Makerspaces, making, and the maker movement have become frequent conversation topics among librarians. We’ve encouraged making in the library through programming focused on writing, drawing, designing, building, coding, and more. As informal learning and gathering spaces, libraries are by nature situated to invite collaboration and discovery. In many cases, making has been associated with makerspaces — independent spaces that provide tools, materials, and support to youth and adults with an interest in creating (Educause, 2013). Sometimes makerspaces are flexible, subscription-based environments, sometimes they are hosts to structured programs and classes with an attached fee. Some have a technology prominence with 3D printers and laser cutters, while others lend an artistic attention  by supplying sewing machines and design software (Moorefield-Lang, 2015). No two makerspaces are the same, just as no two makers are the same.
Continue reading Transforming Teen Services: Making in the Library While Learning to Fail →

Communication, Services

One Concept that Improves All Your Customer Service Interactions

Image result for customer service

(From CustomerThink.com, by Martha Brooke )

In the US market alone, there are hundreds of customer service consultants offering thousands of customer service improvement strategies which begs the question: does anyone need yet another customer service improvement plan? I think, decidedly, yes, for the simple reason that most customer service remains lackluster and inconsistent—while executives routinely believe their customer service is better than it really is. (For more information on this, just ask, we’re happy to share.)

So why does customer service tend to be largely reactive, inefficient, and overly transactional?

From having evaluated tens of thousands of customer service interactions, I find that when customer service disappoints it’s almost always because it has been managed in an overly general, cookie-cutter way. The result is that customers are treated more similarly than they really are, as though they have the same needs, expectations, and perceptions. But of course, that’s not true. Each customer is unique, making their inquiries at least a little bit different. So when companies treat everyone the same, rarely are customers fully engaged or completely satisfied.

Antidote! What I outline here is a plan that actually improves customer service. I know this plan works because we’ve been using it for more than a decade to improve customer service for clients in a wide array of industries. And the reason it works is that the entire plan hinges on a single proven concept—one that’s paid huge dividends for our clients: specificity. That’s specific ways to add value, relative to specific scenarios, measured by specific scoring rules, summed with specific metrics and last but not least, coached with specific model answers to build necessary customer service skills.

Continue reading One Concept that Improves All Your Customer Service Interactions →

Children's services, Public, Services

P.E.I. public libraries eliminate overdue fines for children’s materials

Prince Edward Island map 1775

(From CBC, Prince Edward Island, By Nicole Williams, CBC News)

As of June 1, P.E.I.’s public libraries will be eliminating fines for any children’s material that is returned late.

Roseanne Gauthier, youth services librarian for P.E.I. provincial public libraries, said the decision to eliminate late fees for children’s materials was an easy one.

“Of course, as a librarian, I really want kids to take the books home, so anything that makes it easier for families to take stuff home, I’m happy about,” she said.

Gauthier said library fees can often act as a barrier for families wishing to book out material for their children.

“Sometimes you do see parents or caregivers who are hesitant about having kids take something home, worried that they might get an overdue fine,” she said.

Incentive to return

While overdue fines will be eliminated, borrowers will still have to pay for a book’s replacement if lost.

However, Gauthier said books can be lent out for several months before being considered lost, and hopes that won’t discourage families from lending material.

“I think that in the end, the benefit of having families feel more comfortable with taking things home and not feeling stressed about having to get them back on time to the day, I’m hoping the benefit of that will outweigh any of the books that get lost,” said Gauthier.

(Read the rest of this article here!)

Public, Services

How Denver Public Library Balances Books and Being A Homeless Shelter

Denver Public Library 1
(From Colorado Public Radio, by Michael Sakas)

“A visit to the library likely means checking out a book or movie. But the Denver Public Library says its central location has another job these days — it’s somewhat of a homeless shelter.

“That is a role that we have not asked to play, but are playing,” says Michelle Jeske, the city librarian for Denver.

When the doors of the library open at 10 a.m. a mix of people usually wait outside to be let in. Some have materials to return or pickup, and others are seeking shelter.

James Short, who describes himself as residentially challenged, is one of the group waiting to get in. He’s a writer, and says he comes to the library nearly every day to work. Without a home, “I’d be drinking a lot more Starbucks coffee and using their internet,” Short says.

Of the crowd gathered at the Central Library on this day, Short was the only one willingto be interviewed. One man said he was too high to talk. Another didn’t want the plasma center to know he was homeless or he wouldn’t be able to donate.

Elissa Hardy, one of the Denver Public Library’s social workers, points out that the library is one of the few public bathrooms in the city. “We don’t open until 10 a.m. [weekdays]. So as you can imagine, if you’re leaving shelter at 5 or 6 in the morning, that’s five to six hours that you don’t have access to the bathroom.” Continue reading How Denver Public Library Balances Books and Being A Homeless Shelter →