We are an Anchor Institution

Did you know that you are a part of an “anchor” institution? You are! This was the term used by Diane Brown, Deputy State Librarian at the State Library of Louisiana, who led a recent disaster training workshop at Williamson County Public Library. With about 17,000 public libraries in the U.S., covering a total of over 3,100 counties, that averages out to five libraries per county in our country. When I thought of this statistic, I thought: “She’s right, we are an anchor institution.”

Brown shared with us about the experiences of Louisiana libraries during several major disasters they’ve endured, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They learned a lot from that experience. One of the most important lessons was that FEMA did not recognize public libraries as “essential services” back in 2005, and thus those facilities which lost buildings due to flooding were not eligible for temporary spaces or Federal funding. (They are now!)

Do you know one reason why FEMA ended up recognizing public libraries as essential? Because when first responders and victims of the disaster needed a safe space to rest and use the internet or computers to file FEMA paperwork, where did they send them? To the public libraries that were still operational! Though public libraries faced their own crises with damage and staff loss of property, they continued to provide services as much as possible to their communities. It was truly awe-inspiring to hear the stories.

The biggest take-away from this meeting was the importance of public libraries to be involved in the community before disaster hits. She said there was a huge difference in an example of two libraries struck by disaster, one of which the librarian was very active in community meetings, the other not. The first was able to get funding and rebuild. The second, is still not back in service. Relationships matter.

Our Director is a wonderful community networker, and I know that she will be able to easily get us a seat at the table among officials and first-responders for future disaster preparedness meetings. This is critical for us to be able to play not only the role we know we can, but be recognized from the beginning by all the services at the time of a disaster as a place for providing help.

All LPLS staff have a role to play in this, as we interact with community members on a daily basis. Take the time to proactively share what we offer as a library, from books to WiFi and computers to the driver’s license kiosk to notary services. All of these are truly critical needs when disaster strikes, whether you see that now or not. Your role in spreading the word helps people to remember when they’re traumatized: “Oh, even though we’ve lost our home, we can go to the library to get on the computer.”

Building relationships benefits everyone in a time of crisis, though I pray we won’t have to face one anytime soon!

The Selfless Servant

A colleague recently shared a book with me entitled: The Public Library: A Photographic Essay by Robert Dawson. It had a very interesting article by Dorothy Lazard called, “Practicing Seva” (from the Sikh notion of selfless service). She talks about the increased role libraries are having in providing service to the homeless and untreated ill, especially as large psychiatric hospitals have continued to close over the years.

Lazard says, “We library workers are, in practical terms, surrogates for shuttered schools, parks, hospitals, and homes. And we know we are hopelessly unqualified to treat what ails many of the people who pass through our doors.” What librarians do, even with this influx of complicated patronage, is to carry on selfless service. “We are acting,” according to Lazard, “as the last outposts of community space.”

Librarians are trained to be polite, patient, and helpful, no matter who stands across from the reference desk. The most important thing is that we look them in the eye and take them seriously…And if our work calms someone’s demons or teaches someone else how to treat the mentally ill with respect, then I am proud to be a part of the process.

While this article did not encourage me much about the future of society in general, it did remind me that librarians can still be examples to others in how to deal with all members of our community. There may be times when a situation requires intervention from authorities, because someone has gone off their meds or added too much alcohol to their system, but in general, we are able to provide that safe space even for those who are living in another reality.

Knowing our patrons by name is a first step to building a comfortable environment for all, as we treat each person with respect as a fellow human being. It’s a challenge on some days, but is part of what makes the library such an important part of every community. I’m glad to be a part of that, and I hope you are too.

The Embedded Librarian

I recently attended a tri-regional in-service in Brentwood, TN, which dealt with analyzing community trends and telling the library’s story by gathering data. Much of what was discussed, we were already doing at our library system, as our current strategic plan process jump-started our awareness of this concept and helped us learn new ways to gather data and access our services.

One aspect of this process that is crucial for us to be engaged in on an on-going basis is looking at community trends. We were fortunate in having the great committee of community members to give us that baseline in community vision, but it’s important to realize that this is not a one-time issue. As communities grow and change, vision changes; new things change the nature of who we are and what’s happening in our area. Because of this, we as librarians need to be constantly listening to our patrons and citizens at large.

The seminar facilitator mentioned the idea of The Embedded Librarian. It refers to proactive efforts on the part of EVERY library staff member to be intentional about building relationships in the community. Each of us are parts of groups or organizations outside of the library. Are we listening to conversations with our library in mind?

Another idea was to seek to have coffee or meet with someone new in the community. Think of these two Community Reference Questions:

•  What are your concerns about our community?
•  What is one thing you feel we're not addressing?

Whether we meet new people or hear ideas through groups we're a part of, it is important to share what we hear with library leadership. When we see a new trend happening in our communities, maybe this is an area the library can engage, partner or provide a new service.

Our tag line at Linebaugh Public Library System is Explore, Imagine, Engage. This works for us as staff members as well. The more we, as staff, explore and engage with our community “outside” the walls of the library, the more we can imagine new ways to serve and add value back to those around us through targeted materials and programming.

I encourage you to become an embedded librarian! It’s for a good cause.

The Public Relations Difference

Today I was working on reports and heard the familiar music of our Story Time going, so I glanced over at the cameras to see how many children were participating. What caught my eye, however, was not the children, but the glowing heads of Mindy and Laura as they sang the welcome song. I knew I had to get up and go see what they were doing. I found Kathleen also watching, and she explained to me that they were aliens. As they introduced the letter A, they did mention that alien starts with A. It all became clear to me.

I continued watching for a while as the children happily repeated the alphabet with the ladies and also were quick to pick out the day’s shape – circle, and then watched the short abcmouse.com video on the letter A. All of these new additions (short of the aliens) to our story time are a direct result of surveys taken this past year. Parents wanted to see more “preschool readiness” exercises and more stories in our story times. Our Youth Services team listened and responded.

Meeting patrons’ needs can be tricky, but I think the secret of doing it well is relationship. Mindy and Laura, I know, got MANY more suggestions from their story time survey, but because they knew their audience, they were able to make changes that were of best service to the entire group and actually “doable” as well.

This last week Lisa Robert shared with me a story of one of her Bookmobile regulars. As you may know, our Bookmobile folks have become very adept at choosing items that will meet the reading tastes of their patrons; they are the ultimate “personal shoppers”. However, Lisa had run out of the usual authors for this one patron, so she decided to take a risk and provide a completely new author. What an amazing response she received from the patron who said to her: “Oh, you got my message!” Lisa told her, “No, I didn’t get any message from you.” The patron replied by saying: “I was thinking about you really hard and wanting you to bring me something new to read. You read my mind!”

I won’t go into Lisa’s psychic abilities here, but I do think that because she had developed a relationship with the patron, she had learned to know what she enjoyed reading. This is what customer service is all about – not the mechanical attempt to serve people we don’t know, but the natural outgrowth of service that comes with enjoying real “relationships” with our patrons.

This may mean that you click with a certain demographic of our patrons, while other staff members are able to help and serve others. Yet, even if a person’s reading tastes are different from ours, we can learn how to meet their needs by just getting to know them. This takes conversation and interaction. In our increasingly automated and electronic world, this is where the public library can shine. We hear their voices and respond, whether through a survey, a conversation, or just a feeling…that is what sets us apart and keeps people coming back! 

Promoting Partnerships

This month, Linebaugh has been very encouraged by some of our local businesses. Reeves-Sain Pharmacy came to the library to provide flu shots for any staff members who wanted to get one for the season. Just Love Coffee is offering free coffee for our patrons this last week of September in commemoration of Library Card Sign Up Month and National Coffee Day.

These businesses, along with many others who support us through our Summer and Winter Reading Programs and other special events, are crucial to the library increasing her footprint in the community. Partnerships have to be a win-win for both sides. So, as we receive giveaways or services, they receive free publicity or a tax write-off. However, we’re not just getting “freebies” from our partners, as we also have partnerships in which we offer them a service. In either case, we’re making connections with people who may have known nothing about us until now.

A special prize may draw someone into the library who has never darkened our doors, but the partnership also connects us with the owners and staff of the businesses who also learn something new about who we are and what we can offer to them. The reach of these connections are hard to measure, but they are real.

This is where you come in as a staff member of LPLS. How does it affect you? Library administration can only know so many people. But the other 60+ employees of this organization combined know exponentially more people in our county. Each one of us has a role to play in connecting the libraries with potential partners in our communities.

Think about who you know, whether a business owner, a wealthy philanthropist, a school administrator, or someone who has a specific skill-set they want to share. Each of these and others can be viewed as a potential partnership for our libraries. So, the next time you talk to someone, ask them: “Have you considered partnering with the library? I’d be happy to get you connected!”

It’s as simple as that! Be a bridge builder for library awareness in our community.

Am I Communicating?

At a recent event, I heard Laura Creekmore, President of Creek Content, share about communication. She began with a quote from George Bernard Shaw:

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. 

Gone are the days when a manager or even sometimes director of an organization sits in an office and is able to dictate directives and letters to a secretary or administrative assistant. From the CEO to the low man/woman on the totem pole, every one of us is responsible for our own communication. For some, it comes more naturally than others. Even for the experienced "communicator" the means have changed drastically in the last 20 years, requiring each of us to learn new skills and develop ways to organize our communication.

Though I entitled this piece: "Am I Communicating?", I really want to press home the point of what am I saying about myself in my communication? As Creekmore spoke, I realized her theme of communicating on purpose was key. Simply because today's communication is a 24/7, fast-food reality, I should not find myself as a leader falling prey to the pitfalls inherent in being "speedy", but instead be intentional and even more careful in how I use current mediums to speak to others.

Simple things are important, such as starting with the body of the email before putting the recipient's email in the space provided. Write the message first and read through it before choosing the recipient and hitting SEND. In reading my message, I want to put myself in the shoes of the one who's receiving it. Will they understand what I'm saying? Have I made assumptions and not clarified my stance? Does my tone come across correctly? Taking the extra time to be deliberate in outgoing communications is crucial to how my staff and clients perceive and respond to me (and the organization I'm representing).

Because we no longer have our own personal secretaries, it's important to be the one who sends out the invite for meetings. Emails are helpful to get things started, but the invitations that require responses and can add events to calendars are the best way to confirm and make sure everyone involved has it scheduled. 

Scheduling is a huge adjustment for some, and overbooking or being consistently late to meetings reflects badly on you as a person and also shows the other people involved that you don't value their time. Being intentional means finding a scheduling resource to best suit your needs. Whether it's a held-hand planner or an online app, get started in writing down your appointments and tasks. 

As our number of contacts increase exponentially with technology, it is critical to keep a contact file that gives you instant access to information on those you're meeting, working with and serving. I can no longer remember personal preferences of staff or even friends, so being able to add them to my file helps me to maintain that personal touch that shows I care. It is one more step in showing you respect them as an individual and seek to meet them where they are.

When you look at your communication habits, you may come up with an entirely different list of things needed to help you become an intentional and purposeful communicator. That is fine. We are all different, but each in need of constant evaluation in how we "get the message across" to those who matter. I hope you'll be willing, as I now am, to take a look at yourself for purposeful growth.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Dealing with Complainers

As public institutions, we get a wide variety of comments from patrons. Many are glowing and encouraging, but others can be “downright ugly”, as they say in the South. While we’re happy to respond and thank patrons for the positive comments, we are also responsible for responding to the negative. Criticism is not easy to take, but I like to look at them as “learning opportunities”.

Therefore, how we respond to criticism, privately and via our very public social networks is important and can speak volumes to those watching from the outside. While some comments should be deleted for profanity or slander, others can remain to allow not only the patron but the public realize that we are able to take the good with the bad from those who frequent our facilities.

Here are some basic rules for handling public complaints:

1. Respond with an immediate “short” comment. Whether you dealing with someone in person or on social media, let them know that you regret their negative experience, and you will look into it and talk with them further. Basically, this lets them know someone in authority is acknowledging them.

2. Get the facts. Talk with other staff members who were directly involved (if it relates to an actual incident) and find out what happened. Look at the person’s account as well. Find out as much as you can about what would have provoked them to complain.

3. Don’t handle the entire situation via social media or in public. If you’re dealing with a social media complaint, while you may put some of your response on the site itself, share that you will be contacting them via email or telephone as soon as possible. There is no need to begin a “back-and-forth” on Facebook or Twitter, which may not reflect well on the institution. Quickly move the longer response to a more private space.

If you’re dealing with an irate patron in person, move them to your office or a quieter space (once you’ve done #2), so you can answer their complaint in detail and without further disruption to others.

4. Answer their complaint point by point. Many times a person will have a bad encounter with staff over an issue and then decide to complain about everything else in the library. Begin with the initial complaint and put them at ease about our procedures or desire to serve them. However, do not apologize for other issues that may have just been spoken in anger. If I know that staff did their best to serve the patron, I do not apologize for our staff member’s behavior but tell them how proud I am of the service our staff provide. If they complain about filthy conditions of materials or space, I remind them that we have thousands of people in our facilities each week and we do the best we can in providing a clean environment.

5. Bad attitude does not have to be met with bad attitude. Even if a complaint is ugly and borderline abusive, I do not have to stoop to their level in response. Maintain a positive attitude in responding. Smile (if you’re face-to-face) or keep a calm demeanor. A calm, soft answer actually does diffuse anger.

6. We are here to serve the public. Just as we proudly proclaim as librarians that we provide “free access for all”, we sometimes need to be reminded that this includes “difficult” patrons. They want to use our facilities and check out materials just like everyone else, but can sometimes be demanding in their ways. We must still strive to keep them as patrons and turn them from problem to positive patrons, as we acknowledge their grievances and help them understand our system and policies.

Does this mean we won’t have some who will try to buck the system and always try to get away with things? No, they will always be among us, but as we acknowledge them and continue to positively articulate our rules and procedures, we can have hope that they will eventually turn out to be patrons who will share compliments more than complaints.

So, the next time you’re faced with a complainer – step back, breathe and say to yourself: Here’s a great learning opportunity! And smile.