NextGen: Nuts and Bolts

By Katherine Mossman -- Library Journal, 6/15/2005

The best orientations incorporate at least some of the following factors. For mid-size to large libraries, plan for an orientation to last at least two days, and smaller libraries should consider spending at least one day if two days is an impossibility. This may sound like a lot, but not if you consider the vast amount of information that can be disseminated in a controlled environment over a period of two eight-hour sessions.

Your existing supervisors, busy with all of their other duties, will appreciate receiving a well prepped new employee and everyone involved will be less stressed and more focused. In the long run a good orientation will pay for itself, in both measurable fiscal terms, and in the saved hours spent inefficiently training new employees. It may well result in a cost savings worthy of mention to your funding sources. Therefore, a two-day orientation is well worth the time spent.

To start you thinking, the following are some of the most important elements in a library orientation program:

1. Give your new staff the orientation or training that you wish you’d had when you first began working at your library. Think back to each of your first day experiences, ask others about theirs, and pick out those memories that make you cringe (didn’t you feel embarrassed when you couldn’t tell a patron where ____ was?) Think of ways that those “cringe” moments could have been prevented and then incorporate those solutions into your program.
2. Staff should not arrive at their branch or assigned location before being exposed to and trained for the use of the library’s catalog, or without an overview of your other databases. Believe it or not, many existing library orientations don’t include even the most basic overview of catalogs. Presumably, library school (or other experience) has taught your new librarian the rudimentary elements of online searching techniques (not all new hires will be new to librarianship, of course), but each library catalog contains quirks (sometimes many of them), and every institution has different databases. Make this one less point on the learning curve for your new staff to conquer.
3. If your organization has an Intranet, familiarize your new staff with it. Again, most librarians these days can navigate an Intranet. It will be easier for them when they later have to go looking for something if they’ve had some introduction.
4. Review your circulation policies and practices. If appropriate, make sure all staff at all levels get a library card, and teach them how to issue one. When I was a new paraprofessional, I was startled to learn that librarians don’t receive circulation training. There are many reasons why it is foolish for librarians (especially supervising librarians) to be kept in the dark about circulation procedures. A supervisor is going to be called upon to resolve a wide variety of problems, and it is confusing for everyone when a supervisor arrives only to be unsure of how to resolve a basic circulation problem.
5. If there is more than one library in your system, or any special collections, talk about them (and whatever it is that makes them special).
6. Actively teach your customer service philosophy. I don’t know how many times I have heard a librarian say, when relating a difficult customer service situation, “I just didn’t know what to say [to the customer in question]!” Prepare your staff for those moments ahead of time, with scripts and real-world based role-playing. If you believe in the value of practice role-playing for a job interview, you should know the value of practice role-playing for a tough interaction with a patron.
7. Don’t forget to cover the history of the library and how it made your library unique. As information professionals, librarians will appreciate having the background knowledge that gives them a context in which to place their work. People that have relocated to take the job will especially appreciate it, as it will give them a leg up on the history of an area in which they are likely to be unfamiliar.
8. If your organization has printed policies (and hopefully it does), go over them, covering the more important policies in greater detail.