Self Help and Privacy
Library managers and trustees talk about two things: service and cost of service. Managers must find ways to provide excellent service while maintaining low costs. To accomplish that, many organizations have adopted self-help models of service. Self-serve gas stations, self-serve drink machines in fast food restaurants, self-check out at the grocery store and my favorite self-check out at Home Depot stores.
Many libraries, including HPL, have installed self-check out equipment with staff being reserved for special or problem circulation needs. A cost savings model of service that so far isn’t very popular with our patrons.
Lately, libraries have been installing self-service holds areas where materials ordered into the library for patrons are placed in an open shelving area for pick-up. This means anyone, anytime can browse these shelves and determine what has been ordered and by whom.
Of course this raises some questions about privacy. If anyone can wander through the area and look at what is waiting for a patron to pick-up, what conclusions about that person might be drawn? Patron confidentiality is a cornerstone of the library profession. 48 of 50 states in our country have some type of law specifically protecting the privacy of library patron registration and circulation records.
Patrons have an understanding and an expectation that in the library, their privacy is protected. If a patron knows that materials ordered into the library and placed in an open area can be seen by anyone, how likely is that patron to make such a request? Not very. I would suggest that access to information for patrons uncomfortable with the knowledge that their reading and information choices are available for public consumption is now as limited as is their privacy.
Library managers argue that space, staffing costs and convenience to patrons are the driving forces behind self-serve holds areas. During our own recent renovation project, some of the original plans had a self-serve holds area. Through discussion with circulation staff, an understanding of the value of the human touch in public service, and concerns about patron privacy, the self-serve holds area was removed.
I have heard of libraries wrapping books so that nosy patrons, govenment officials or people intent on causing harm cannot discern who is checking out what. And the cost savings is where? And the service to patrons is how much?
Self-help has its place in libraries as it does in gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores. But not when privacy of our patrons can be compromised.
Ensuring patron privacy is a long established standard of library service - we give way to methods that erode that concept only as a last possible resort.
Lynn
265010
What’s 265010? That would be our SMS text reference number.
Oh yes, that’s us, going where you are and offering reference service directly to your cell phone.
How does it work? Just like any other text messaging service - here’s how to do it:
On your cell phone dial 265010 as an SMS Text and press send
Next key in AskHPL:
Add your question - example: AskHPL:are you the first area public library to offer text messaging reference?
Your question will be picked up at the library’s reference desk on our AOL IM account and our librarians will reply to your cell phone via text.
OBTW, the answer is yes!
Lynn
Some Talk - We Walk
You may know Karen Joy Fowler as the author of The Jane Austen Book Club.
In her latest novel, Wit’s End , she writes:
(Though Rima’s father had always told her never to underestimate librarians. The Patriot Act, he’d said, had made the mistake of underestimating librarians, and now they were the only thing standing between us and 1984, and they weren’t all spineless the way Congress was. They read books. His money was on them.)
Yes, indeed.
Lynn
You gotta see this - Super Librarians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ekvnn5aJbI
Book Cart Drill Teams perform at library conferences around the country - here’s a good one.
Lynn
Best Magazines of 2007 - Meatpaper?
Everyone knows its important to keep up with what’s going on in your world. So I look at the online version of Library Journal to see what’s happening and discover that a magazine called Meatpaper is a notable new magazine of 2007. Really?
Here’s what the review said:
If found in a library, Meatpaper would send patrons a clear message that the librarians truly support a collection representing diverse points of view. Personal narratives, journalism, prose, poetry, images, and art criticism examine the role of meat in our culture from a predominantly feminist perspective. This thoughtful, unique, brash, and provocative magazine is not for the squeamish or those who don’t wish to have their assumptions challenged.
I couldn’t help but click to www.meatpaper.com because, really, I’m still thinking “Meatpaper, are you kidding?” and I read that Meatpaper describes itself as “the journal of meat culture”. My mother always said you should learn something new everyday and so for me today, it’s learning that a meat culture exists and it has its own journal.
That’s enough fun for one day -
National Library Week 50th Anniversary
The 50th anniversary of National Library Week reminds us that libraries have been in existence since we began drawing and writing about ourselves and our cultures. It is through libraries that we keep a record of who we are and how we pass our accumulated knowledge on from generation to generation.
This week, set aside time to recognize how libraries fit into our lives and our communities. HPL decided to coordinate its Grand Re-Opening events with National Library Week and we have a variety of activities planned from book discussions to author visits to storytelling and other performances.
View the schedule of events at http://www.hinsdalelibrary.info
Lynn
Winter without End
45 inches of snow and counting - cold temperatures that make me think about stories I heard from my grandparents who walked to school uphill both ways in blizzards like you’ve never seen.
These days most of our staff drives an hour or more each way to the library on highways that are clogged with construction, snow, ice and cars in ditches.
PubLib had a thread going about when to close and when to send people home and how to count the time against vacation days and on and on. It makes me happy to be in an environment where we can make game day decisions, where staff who live close by step up for colleagues who live far away, where we say “Be late, be safe”.
But still - Spring is coming, isn’t it?
Lynn
The Place to See and Be Seen
Last week, the library was the place to see and be seen by our high school students. 700 teens were in the library on five days preparing for semester finals and participating in the library’s High School Finals Study Program.
The library looked like an airport in a snowstorm. Students were in every possible place with laptops plugged into any reachable outlet. The Quiet Room and Story Time Room were full each afternoon. Groups of students worked in clusters on every floor. Staff distributed water, snacks, note cards, pencils and words of encouragement.
We believe our assistance not only produced better grades for our students, but some of them even got dates for the weekend. Hinsdale Public Library: The Place to See and Be Seen.
Lynn
2007 in Review
So much of staff time is taken up with the renovation project, that we don’t talk much about other things that are happening at the library. 2007 was a good year at HPL. Staff evaluated the way we do some things, reorganized, relocated and generally considered why we do what we do and especially those sacred tasks that have “always been done that way”.
While the building is changing, it made sense for the staff to make some changes too. So we did. Library visitors will find that our collections are easier to browse, are located in more sensible places, and that we the staff are more accessible too. Staff still have public service desks, but are now positioned in the places where the people are and we take a more active approach in making sure our users are getting what they need when they need it.
We also launched some new programs and initiatives this year. The library’s book discussion group has moved over to Ethel’s Chocolate Shop. A High School Finals Study program was launched to give specific spaces to our students so they can study and work together. Teacher Tales was launched in cooperation with our elementary schools. Teachers come to the library and read stories to students and families. The library’s e-newsletter was redesigned and made its debut in September. Ecommerce came to the library in November so that users can make payments from anywhere.
Throughout this year of building renovations, the library staff has been renovating itself and services provided to the community. While the building project will be finished in a few months, the staff is committed to continuing our own improvements to better serve you.
From all of the staff to all of you - Have a happy holiday season.
Lynn
Christmas Shopping at the Library
Memorial Hall was mobbed last Friday night as the Friends of the Library hosted a mini-book sale in time for holiday shopping. Over 800 books were sold to people attending the annual downtown Christmas Walk.
Shoppers left with many bargains including the ever popular The Polar Express which sold for $1.00.
All proceeds benefit the library and are used to fund such items as the new aquarium located in the Youth Services area.
The efforts of the Friends are much appreciated.
Lynn