Continuing this blog's trademark mix of 70% silliness, 20% thoughts about how to be a good librarian, and 10% moral conundrums ("conundra"?), today we'll be talking about something from the middle slice. And by "we" I mean me, unless the commenters are super-active for some reason.
Today I spent a couple of hours doing marketing and unannounced outreach in our library's neighborhood and I can resist taking the opportunity to evangelize about it. As far as I know my library has never done this, but it seemed like a common sense idea and I figured out a way to suggest it to my boss that made it hard for her to say no.
It took 2 hours of my time (basically all the prep I needed to do, I did on desk), which is about 40 dollars of the library's money. I drove my own car, so I guess I donated a bit of gas money, but it was more than repaid by getting to listen to the radio and see the sunshine while I was on the clock. In the course of my 2 hours, I talked to 8 or 10 people, discovered 3 Little Free Libraries that my library didn't know about, and got contact information and warm handshakes from 2 different people at places I really want the library to do more with: the YWCA and a nearby community college. I also made a promise to return to the Habitat for Humanity office near us later in the week to deliver some donated books to beef up the little collection they have in their lobby, which will be another opportunity to talk up the library to them. I can't remember the last time I spent 2 hours more productively.
If you think you might like to do this, here's how it worked for me:
I made a list of community institutions in our neighborhood (rec centers, nonprofits, churches, a local community college, etc.). Then I plotted their addresses on a custom Google map. That part is really easy--you just create a blank one and copy and paste the addresses to drop pins.
Then I printed copies of flyers for our biggest-ticket programs that are coming up: a job fair and some English as a second language and GED classes. I took my stack of flyers, a clipboard with my map stuck to it, a pen, a roll of tape, and some tacks, and started driving around.
At each place I walked in, explained who I was, showed them the flyers, and asked if they had a public information area where I could tack up a couple. The only place that said no where I actually managed to speak to someone (some of the places I visited were closed) was a community clinic that simply didn't have a spot for local information where the flyers could go. If the person I talked to expressed any interest, I'd start talking to them about the library and the other stuff we offer, and offer to take their email address to send them digital copies of the flyers and a copy of our monthly program calendar. I also offered to leave my own contact information in case there was anything the library could do for them (I just had to scribble it down on a post-it note--this being Mystery Library, we don't have business cards, but maybe I'll ask if I can print my own little in-house ones for future use).
After I got back to the car, I made a note of the name of anyone I'd met, anything interesting I learned about the place that I didn't already know (for example, the Y has a clinic in it, so maybe I should invite them to the healthcare resource fair we have coming up in the spring), and any follow-up I needed to do.
I should say that this really took 3 hours of time, because once I got back I spent a whole hour organizing information and sending follow-up emails, but I still think it was a pretty good deal.
Things I might do differently next time:
- Find out when the heck churches are usually open: Most of the ones I visited mid-day on a Wednesday were closed. I thought about devoting a Sunday morning to this, but would all the church workers be too busy to talk to me then? Further research needed for sure.
- Figure out a way to have my contact information ready: As I said, we don't have business cards, so I didn't have a quick and professional-seeming way to leave my name and email address for places that wanted it.
- Bring more flyers: I was expecting that most places that took flyers would take one copy of each to put up on a bulletin board, but most of the places that accepted them wanted a whole pile to hand out.
- Find a smaller box of tacks!: They are a pain to carry around and I didn't ever have to use them, plus I was really afraid I'd drop them in someone's lobby and then have to spend several embarrassing minutes picking them up one by one.
Today there was an incident where I was accused of being racist, and it made me feel good rather than bad. Let me explain:
I think I'd like to be a department head or maybe even a library director someday. Knowing this, I keep an eye out for things that happen at work that would tell me if it am suited for the work and would help make me more qualified. So today was sort of a weird experience.
A woman was having trouble with a website in one of our PCs. At first she was cursing and mumbling to herself but it started to get louder and I thought it might bother other patrons. Instead of starting us off on bad foot by having my first interaction with her be a complaint, I went over near her and said "Do you need some help with the computer?" to which she responded something like "No! I need you to get out of my space and I need your mother f***king computer to work! So you can just go back and get away from me." So I did. Soon after that I went to help a white woman sitting a few chairs down whose web browser had frozen. That was a normal nice patron interaction where no one was mad at anyone and we fixed the problem and I left again.
After a bit the first woman started cursing again so this time I went up and said "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you can't use language like that in here. I know you're frustrated but it violates our code of conduct. If it happens again I will have to ask you to leave the library." While I was saying this she was simultaneously talking to me about how I needed to get out of her space (I was about 5 feet away from her chair) and how she would leave if we asked her to and she had her own car and we could call the police if we wanted. So I left again.
Unsurprisingly, the cursing didn't stop, but as I got up to go over to tell her she needed to leave the security guard approached (my colleague had heard our last interaction and called her on the radio, anticipating what would happen next). The security guard escorted her out while she continued to curse and make complaints about me getting in her space and being racist (she said she was being kicked out because she was black and that I had been rude to her but nicer to the white woman I helped with her web browser). Since I grew up in a culture with institutionalized racism, I am sure I have some racist feelings and beliefs at a subconscious level, but I know I didn't make this woman leave because of the color of her skin and I am confident that I would have treated a white person who was behaving the same way in a very similar respect.
Both of my colleagues on the floor came over to say how mean that woman was and how I had been perfectly reasonable with her. Even a patron came up to basically say the same thing. I know they were trying to help me feel better, and I appreciated it, but actually...I didn't need help. I was feeling pretty good about myself. One of the things I worry about disqualifying me from management is not being emotionally tough enough to be the person who tells patrons they have to leave, or to stand up to people who are being verbally abusive. I did have the safety net of the security guard to fall back on, but I still felt like the confrontation I had today was an indication that I was getting better at it and would eventually be able to do it well. I dreaded the conversations I had with her a little, but I still had them, and had them confidently without getting emotional myself.
So that was a victory for me, in a weird way.
Best moment at Small Town Library so far: Seeing someone check out a book that I chose and ordered for the library's collection!
Unsurprisingly, the patron was a small elderly man in hat. Old Man Fan Club forever!
Big hulking dads with do-rags and tons of ear piercings who wear their sunglasses in the library reading picture books aloud to their kids and reminding them to use their "library voice."
Anyone showing anyone else how to use the 'card catalog.'
"You would not believe how long I have been looking for this book! Thank you so much!"
Correctly inferring the title of the book a mumbling kid is describing to me.
"I just wanted to tell you that I loved the book you recommended to me last week."
A security guard showing someone how to use the catalog or how to log on to the computer.
Someone with a Spanish-sounding accent having trouble asking me a question and being able to say, "Hablo un poco español,
si es más fácil."
The expression on a patron's face when she is introduced to interlibrary loan for the first time.
"Oh wow, this library has everything!"
People asking "How much does it cost to borrow a book/DVD from the library?" and getting to reply, "It's free!"
..and two little girls in pink flower-patterned leggings kicked everyone's asses.
Some good, some bad today, as usual.
Good: A man came up to the desk all excited, and I asked "How can I help you?" He didn't really need any help. He'd just found out his student loan application had been approved and he was going to college! He was so excited he just had to tell someone.
Bad: A man came up to the desk with a bunch of loose sheets of paper. "Stapler?" I asked him. He nodded. When I held out the stapler, instead of taking the stapler, he held out his papers like he wanted me to staple them for him. Nope, that's definitely not a service we provide (unless you're disabled, anyway).
Good: We can't find a copy of the autobiography of the guy who started AA, but the patron says "That's okay, I've been coming here for years and this is the first time you've ever let me down!"
Bad: Another patron is frustrated that I can't tell him which tax form he filed last year (he needs to put that information on the FAFSA which, by the way, like many of our patrons he pronounces "fass-fuh"). I don't say this, but I can probably tell him what form he *should* have filed, but that's not the same thing.
Good: A woman with a ton of tattoos, bleached blond hair, and an angry look on her face is super-nice when I show her how to release her print job from the print release station.
Bad: A woman who looks like a sweet grandma is super-rude when I show her how to release her print job.
Good:
Today one of our regulars came to ask me for help with ebooks. He said "Do you know anything about Overdrive [our ebook provider]? I've never used it before. I checked this book out and I don't know how to download it." The book he had checked out was Kraken by China Miéville. A recommendation I wrote for that very ebook was posted earlier this week on the library homepage. Coincidence? I think not.
Bad:
Wandering the stacks, I found just the front and back covers of Samsung Galaxy S4 for Dummies, no innards. Apparently someone has figured out which part of the book sets off the alarm at the front door. Seamus the Boss of Security is on it--I'm sure the book is long-gone, but maybe he caught the perpetrator on camera.
Some librarians hate it but I actually usually quite enjoy the 'reader's advisory' question: "Do you have any good books?"
Bonus #1: The reader came back to the desk to show me the book she'd picked out
Bonus #2: She stopped by again on her way out to say thank you.
For whom it may concern: She choose Pretties by Scott Westerfield.
When the tiniest, oldest man who comes to the library to read the newspaper every morning came in on Saturday, he came by the desk to say "When I saw all the cars in the parking lot I thought you were having a party in here!"
An extremely appreciative old lady who I help with printing. She only needs 30 cents' worth of printing but she has a twenty dollar bill. I tell her that she can go over to Customer Service and they will make change for her, because the machine takes only coins and one-dollar bills, although at least it makes change within those parameters. Then I overhear her saying to the poor girl at Customer Service, "Well, I'll need at least three dimes..."
A man with a great Texas accent needs books with example wedding vows. "They just called and said their pastor may not be able to make it, so I'm going to have to step in!"
Reader's advisory: A 12 year old wants a historical fiction book (or character-based nonfiction) about the Cold War, from the Soviet side. Two results, two more than I was expecting.
A woman can't get the printer to make any copies. Because it's, you know, a printer.
And, the best of the day: Is your Geneaology department planning any trips to Utah soon?
1. Watched at least four books get selected from displays I created
2. Hugged by a patron, but it wasn't creepy
3. Number of pens in the 'homework supply' box: Net gain!
This morning I showed a man with a long list of print jobs how to release more than one at a time. He thanked me with the normal amount of enthusiasm, but then later I saw him pump both of his fists in the air in triumph when the machine told him that all the print jobs had been released. Put your hands in the air!
I have been on the desk with a substitute librarian all day today. She answered a phone call while I was fixing a display and had to consult with me to answer the patron's question. Then I overheard her saying into the phone, "I checked with one of the other librarians, and she says..." YES!
Today has been massively slow at all the information desks. I was sulking about it until a woman came up to me with a design like this:
written on the back of a folded envelope. She asked "Can you tell me what this is?"
"Okay," I said. "What else can you tell me about it?"
"Well, it's for an organization. That my friend says he is in."
On a hunch, I did a Google image search for "masonic symbol" and scrolled down until I found this image. "Are you sure the letter is an A?" I asked, and she said it was either an A or a G. So, yep. Definitely a Masonic symbol. Then she wanted to know who the Masons were, so I got her books on freemasonry.
Not only was this possibly my most interesting reference interaction, and also possibly my biggest reference accomplishment (found the answer on the first try!), it was also the question that I wished I could ask follow-up questions about the most.
The motives for most reference questions are pretty clear. Either you can intuitively tell why a piece of information is useful or wanted (where is the closest place I can scan something? How do I get to this address? How do you spell 'Nickelodeon'?) or, if you're at all friendly and interested, the patron tells you (I want information about A.J. Smitherman. He was my uncle.).
But I will never, ever know the end result of this woman's search. New number one frustration with my job.
