The Face of the Library

"My manager never says hello to me," says library technician Dana. "The only contact we have is when she puts a pile of papers on my desk and tells me to do something."

Library clerk Rita tells the story of being reprimanded by her supervisor in front of staff and patrons. "He really yelled at me," she says. "It was a misunderstanding, but he wouldn't listen to explanations. It was humiliating."

"I helped develop a youth program," tells a library assistant, "but once it took off successfully, it was taken away from me and given to a librarian to run."

Three stories, three different job classifications, one thing in common. These library workers were not treated respectfully or taken seriously as they strove to do their daily jobs. Stories like theirs are, unfortunately, routine among library support staff workers. It is true that many library systems, including my own, encourage and honor workers of all classifications, but get together with any group of library support staff workers and you will hear one discouraging story after another.

A few years ago, Multnomah County Library advertised an upcoming test for potential library clerks. Over 400 people applied. With so many applicants, one might say, "Why bother paying attention to support staff? There will always be someone to replace a disgruntled worker. If they don't like the way they are treated at work, they should just quit."

While it may be true that another clerk can be hired fairly easily, that is an expensive way to do business. Like other businesses, libraries pay attention to the bottom line. They also know that staff retention is an important part of successful budgeting.

Employees are valuable. The cost of hiring, training, and retaining staff—not just librarians, but all staff—generally makes up the largest part of a library's budget. Since library support staff usually comprise 60–80 percent of the work force, it makes perfect fiscal sense to motivate this segment of employees to stay.

There is an even more important reason to motivate library staff: the front-line staff are the face of the library. As a front-line library worker for ten years, now a supervisor, I can testify to that. They are the first people patrons see when they come in the door, and the last ones to assist them as they leave. They are the library's ambassadors. Their influence is enormous in cementing the impression of the library as a welcoming, enjoyable, and professional place to visit, instead of an unsatisfying, confusing, or negative one.

In their new book, Better Together: Restoring the American Community (S. & S., 2003), Robert D. Putnam and Lewis M. Feldstein devote a chapter to branch libraries, which they refer to as "the heartbeat of the community." The authors tell the story of branch libraries that are busier than ever, far from suffering the death knell that was supposedly dealt with the advent of the Internet. They attribute the success of these healthy branches to investment in facilities and staff: the library is a community center, heavily involved in building social capital. These branches provide gathering places where people feel safe and welcomed. Patrons come to join book groups, surf the web, do serious research, or just browse and meet friends, and children come for homework help or to attend special programs.

"The first public act of many newcomers is to get a library card," the manager at one branch tells Putnam and Feldstein. Who makes those library cards? Front-line staff, cordial people who explain policy and encourage new library users to come again.

Now everyone wants to create "destination libraries" to entice more people to come. While librarians generally design exciting programs, the front-line staff most often implement them. Unfortunately, there is often little connection between the librarians who create the programs and the staff shouldering the extra workload. Better communication between the levels would increase success and satisfaction for everyone—including targeted customers. It is important to make sure that staff both understand the benefits of the programs and are motivated to support and promote them enthusiastically. The most innovative and exciting program in the country will be ineffective if the clerk at the desk feels overworked and is rude or uncaring to the very users the program is trying to attract.

"Customer service" is a popular buzz phrase in the library lexicon. Coming from a long tradition of retail work, I have a lot of experience with customer service. One thing that I know is that your worker is also your customer. If workers don't feel they are being treated fairly and respectfully from above, they may reflect that disconnect and give less than stellar service.

In reality, in every library I visit I consistently see a high level of dedication and good service shown to patrons. Most front-line workers truly enjoy this aspect of their jobs. Everyone has a story they are proud to tell—a special way they helped someone. But we cannot take that good service for granted. As budgets tighten, the front-line staff is often reduced, resulting in increased workloads. Besides the inevitable burnout this may cause, actual healthcare costs are 50 percent greater for workers who report being stressed on the job. To be yelled at, disrespected, or undervalued leads quickly to stress.

A librarian once said to me, not unkindly, "We get to deal with solutions, you have to deal with the problems." This is not entirely accurate—most of my patron encounters are pleasant, and I'm sure that librarian deals with impossible-to-please people at least occasionally—but there is more than a kernel of truth in her statement. Some of the most difficult patron interactions occur at the circulation desk, the department that collects fines. For library systems that have adopted a collection agency, the bar has been raised. It takes a highly motivated, professional staff to demonstrate the skill, tact, and diplomacy necessary to turn a potentially negative interaction into a pleasant, or at least acceptable, session that leaves the patron a satisfied library user.

So what does it take to keep staff motivated? More than anything, staff want and deserve respect for their profession. Yes, profession. Serving as a support staff worker, whether clerk, technician, assistant, or shelver, may be a steppingstone to an MLS degree or it may be a legitimate job goal in itself.

Workers also want a say in the way their jobs are crafted. After all, who knows better what is needed to improve a job than the people doing it?

Library administrators and planners are fascinated with future technology, especially the concept of the "self-service library." Understandably, this creates tension among front-line workers who currently serve the public. Motivation is undermined when the fear of job loss owing to automation looms, even though full automation is also an unrealistic goal.

Front-line workers are not only key to the success of the library, they are crucial to its operation. In reality, self-service has a place and is popular among some users, but many people want and need front-line attention—everything from an explanation of their fines to a good recommendation for a book. And, of course, machines break down, they malfunction, they don't work as well as promised, and their operation can be hard for the customer to understand. In the end, front-line library staff troubleshoot the problems and soothe angry or confused patrons.

Not to say that libraries should not move forward with new technologies. These changes are as inevitable as the upgrade from card catalog to online database. Librarians need to be realistic about the current capabilities of technology, and they must involve front-line staff, the workers most intimately involved with the needs and wants of our patrons, in the changes to come.

Whether you call them customers, patrons, clients, or taxpayers, it is our job to serve people in the most professional and pleasant way possible. People will save the "library of the future," not machines. At the forefront is the front-line support staff, motivated and ready to give professional, friendly, experienced, and expert service.