I must confess that I have a magnet in my butt that causes me to be sucked into the magnetic field of the reference desk, firmly planting my bottom in the seat behind the formidable structure that gives me credibility and stature. The desk screams “Ask Me” even louder than the huge “Ask Me” button that I wear. People are drawn to the power of desk because it is an easy to find, safe place to go when in need of assistance in the library. Reference desks and librarians are synonymous. The irrevocable link between reference librarians and their furniture may contribute to my hesitation towards roving librarianship. At the same time, I am fascinated by any possibility of reaching more users and increasing the quality of library service that could stimulate both reference statistics and the number of item check-outs.
Just in case you have been too far buried into Stieg Larsson’s trilogy or too busy with your repair/review carts to have read a library journal in the past five or six years, roving reference is relatively new service approach that requires library staff to get out from behind the desk and go onto the floor, into the stacks, and around the computers to assist patrons more directly and closely at their points of need. For instance, if a patron is going up and down the aisles with a lost look on his face, a librarian would approach and ask, “May I help you find something.” The librarian would help the patron retrieve the book from the shelf, or if it was not there, other steps would be taken to acquire the item for the patron. By having librarians in the stacks, patrons are served immediately at the moment when they need assistance instead having to go to the reference desk for help, which some patrons may never do and ultimately leave frustrated and empty handed. So, roving librarianship goes a long way in providing customer-centric service. This trend is catching on in academic and public libraries throughout the country and appears to be increasing levels of customer satisfaction and escalating patron contact statistics even while traditional reference questions that require more than a minute or two of research are steadily decreasing.
But, is there the possibility that by deserting our desks in favor of exploring and wondering that we are abandoning our patrons who go to the reference desk as a safe haven, only to find that no one is there to help them navigate through their information overload? For example, during one of my shifts at a retail style library that has replaced traditional goliath reference desks with slender, counter height computer stations, I returned to the desk after a lengthy stroll around the library just in time to find a customer comment card that said “I came to ask and no one was here to listen,” punctuated with a frowning face. In this case, I threw out the book with the book jacket when I abandoned my patron by abandoning the desk.
This example reaffirms my commitment to a hybrid method of roaming/traditional reference. Let’s have staff venture into the aisles to offer great service, but let’s keep a librarian at the desk all the time to catch those confident library users who aren’t too shy or unsure to use the reference desk. This way no magnetic fields will be broken, seats will stay warm; library assistants will earn their wings in the stacks, and happy customers will abound.
