McQuade Library Student Worker Training Guide

As an employee of McQuade Library your priority is providing exceptional customer service. Our goal is to assist our patrons in a friendly, respectful, and stress-free way. This requires being attentive to our patrons. One technique you can use is scanning your environment. While at the Library Services Desk look around. Is anyone approaching the desk?  Does anyone need help?  Being proactive and paying attention to your environment is essential to good service.

• Assist patrons with services and resources
• Treat all library visitors with respect and courtesy
• Confidentiality is vital to protect– do not share user information with any person or agency 

Policies and procedures are set as guidelines and sometimes require discretion and flexibility. If you are unsure about something, remember to ask a supervisor for assistance. 

Remember…

• Always greet people who come up to the desk or walk by in a friendly manner.
• Be aware of what is going on around you.
• Our first priority is customer service. Library tasks come after serving our patrons.
• Be completely available when you are at the front desk. (No headphones, no eating, cell phone, etc.)
• Direct questions to librarians or library staff when necessary.

Getting to know your patrons is an important part of being a McQuade Student Worker. Regular patrons develop a strong relationship with library staff and are likely to advocate for the library in the community. But for every super awesome patron, there is bound to be one that is a little more difficult. Classic examples of difficult patrons are easy to come by; they may have a strong body odor, talk too loud, run, bring their bike into the library, ignore all social cues, walk behind the service desk, or expect you to remember their Facebook password, among other things.

Make sure you treat your patrons with kindness when addressing them about a breach in policy. Librarianship is a customer service profession and responding in a condescending tone may only escalate the situation. Stay calm—especially when it feels like it would be easier to blow up.

Below are some webinars and readings that can help you learn how to cater your approach to dealing with difficult patrons. 

Webinars:

• Dealing with Difficult Patrons (WebJunction)

• Extreme Customer Service, Every Time (WebJunction)

• Working with Individuals Affected by Homelessness: An Empathy-Driven Approach (ALA)

Further Reading:

• Difficult Patron Behavior: Success Stories from the WebJunction Community (WebJunction)

• Who Says There’s a Problem? : A New Way to Approach the Issue of “Problem Patrons”

• How to Deal with Difficult People (TEDx)

• Communication: #LunchandLearn Ep. 6 (Niche Academy)

• Cross Cultural Communication (TEDx)

• Customer Service 101

As an AS worker for McQuade, your primary responsibility is to answer questions that library users may have about locating specific books, checking materials in/out, fielding directional questions, etc. 

These situations can include:

• I am looking for a textbook for a class. . . 
• I have the titles to some books and the website says you have them, but I don't know where to find them. .
• Where is ALDE / PROM / AUD / bathroom / etc. ? 
• Do you have this specific title... 

If you encounter a situation similar to these, please provide the user with the best answer.

Your interaction with patrons typically should not last more than 3-7 minutes. If you find yourself unsure about how to answer the question or you have not found the answer within that time using the resources available to you, please refer to a librarian.

When to refer to a librarian

There are some questions or situations often require a greater level of expertise or may require that the patron make appointment with a librarian. These situations can include:

• I need complete a SWOT analysis for my business class. . .
• What primary sources do you have on. . .
• I need to write a(n) annotate bibliography, literature review, research paper, etc.
• I need empirical articles on this topic...

When you encounter questions that make you go hmm. . . or your first instinct is to go to Google to find out what the patron is talking about, stop and contact a librarian.

Remember. . . .

• Do NOT send someone away without help or a referral.
• If the appropriate librarian is not available, provide the patron with that librarian's contact information.