Little Things Make a Difference

Sometimes it’s the little things that make the most difference. A staff member sent me an email this week that reminded me of that when he shared that many patrons have commented on how much they like the changes happening at the library – he was referring to things like the flash drives we now sell. It seems such a small addition to the services we offer, but to the patron who needs to save an important document, it makes all the difference in the world to be able to buy the jump drive on the spot.

I think it’s actually been more rewarding to see how these little changes affect our patrons rather than having a one-time huge new building to wow them. Why? Because it shows our community that we are moving forward to meet their needs. All I have to do is look at the patron suggestion list and know that we’ve come a long way in responding to their desires. Let me show you some examples directly from our patrons of what I mean:

May 2012:

• Books are handled by many hands -- to keep hands cleaner we need paper towels in the rest rooms, please! DONE 2015!
• Many children’s series books such as 39 Clues and the American Girl books are written by multiple authors and are located all throughout the juvenile fiction area. My kids are trying to find the next book the series have a hard time finding it. Our last library had a section for series books where all the books in a series were shelved together making them much easier to find. We would suggest the same for Linebaugh libraries. Made posters to help them with these series 2013!

June 2012:

• I wish we could be allowed to bring water into the library. No more major restrictions on beverages 2014!
• In the future, could there be a “quiet computer room” for people without children and talking. Just quiet. Appreciate the computers. Computer Lab 2013!

December 2012:

• Please find a more efficient way to shelve/display DVD’s. Done! 2013 – 2015!

April 2013:

• Have more children computers. Done Fall 2014!
• I think there should be a play area for kids. Added Duplos, puppet stage for kids 2015!
• Fix the men’s restroom door handle. Changed all bathroom handles 2013!

November 2013:

• Scanners. Coming May 2015!

June 2014:

• Simplify getting a computer upstairs. Done Fall 2014!
• Add Signage to indicate where NF is located. Not on sign pointing upstairs. Done 2015!

Are we listening to our patrons? Yes, in small ways and large, and as a result, I know we will continue to hear even more good things about how our libraries are viable, valuable and vibrant!

Keeping the Library a Place of Integrity

I want to share some thoughts I’ve gleaned through Rory Vaden’s books: Take the Stairs and Procrastinate on Purpose. I’ve enjoyed these books, because they have helped me to work on focusing and purpose in my own life. One area Vaden speaks about deals with integrity, which he describes as the congruence between your words and your actions. There are six ways to strengthen your integrity as well as six ways to weaken it.

Vaden’s 6 ways to keep your integrity:

1. Give yourself AR’s (Action Required). When you speak with someone, or respond to an email or phone call, you use phrases like: “I’ll get back to you on this in two days” or “I will finish this by Thursday”. This provides the person a specific time when they can expect something from you and allows you to show that you can fulfill what’s asked of you.
2. Always be on time. This helps others to see that you respect their time, your work schedule, or other obligations.
3. Over-deliver always on what you promised. People take notice when you produce more than what you said you would do. It adds weight to your words. It also allows for forgiveness during those times when perhaps you are not able to complete something on time or as well.
4. Don’t exaggerate the extent of your problems or magnitude of your achievements. Basically, this means don’t over exaggerate. Let your words speak of the reality of what’s going on in your life.
5. Tell people what you are afraid of and what you’re disappointed in. When you share your fears or struggles, it adds to your integrity, because it shows you’re honest.
6. Go directly to the source of any conflict you have. Watch out for the gossip triangle!

All these will increase the power of your words and strength of your integrity.

Vaden’s 6 ways to weaken your words:

1. Breaking promises.
2. Uncontrolled language.  Keep your language intentional. Don’t let words fly out of your mouth without thinking about what you want to say.
3. Tearing others down. It’s always a big deal to talk bad about other people, because even if the other person has the same opinion, they will know that you might do the same about them with someone else.
4. Creating backdoors for your commitments. Making commitment qualifiers: “I should be able to…” or “I’ll try to…”
5. Using too many words. Mark Twain said: “Brevity is the essence of wisdom”. Using too many words always dilutes the impact of your message.
6. Intellectual dishonesty. Allowing someone to believe something you know is not true.

                                                                         

Though we know the definition of integrity to be the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. I also like the second one given: the state of being whole and undivided. When we strengthen our integrity, others will see us as a person who is whole, sure, and trustworthy. I think these are all values we can not only work on as individuals but also as a staff, as public libraries have long been considered places of integrity.