The Force Field of Librarianship

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.

Bigger Makes a Better Barrier: The Sizable Debate about the Shrinking Reference Desk

Author’s Note: If you are not a librarian, this post will have you wishing that I wrote about Prince today.

While studying library science I opted not to take the library buildings class and instead enrolled in more practical classes like cataloging, collection development, and reference; I did not realize, at the time, how library buildings and library furniture would dominate much of the talk and trends in librarianship. In particular, the reference desk gets more attention than any other single piece of furniture –the academy and administrators claim it hinders service while traditionalist arguing it symbolizes everything that is trusted and beloved in libraries.

Library administrators and library science academes insist that “the reference desk is a barrier to service” and frequently want to abolish the reference desk or reduce its size so significantly to push reference staff onto the floor and into the stacks. There argument is both correct and incorrect. No, the desk does not prohibit great customer service and information retrieval. Yes, the desk is a physical barrier but for many good practical reasons:

Protection of the librarians: Although public libraries are typically safe places, there are times when patrons do become a threat to library staff. A reference desk helps to limit the physical access that a patron has to a staff member while at the same time not making patrons feel like criminals, which was my exact feeling during a recent trip to an area county courthouse to pay a traffic ticket. I thought that I accidentally walk into the visitor section of the jail as I watched people talk on phones and look at each other through glass barriers. I approached the security guard and said, “I must be in the wrong place. I am just here to pay a ticket.” He told me to go stand in line to use a phone. Given their unpleasantness and incompetence, glass barriers at the courthouse are a necessity. But, nothing this extreme is required in a public library setting.

Patron privacy: By conducting searches at a reference desk opposed to a centrally located catalog or counter-height Ask Station, staff is best able to protect patrons’ privacy, concealing both check-out records and their searches. For example, a woman approached me and whispered,” Can you help me with a search of very personal nature. I need to find my husband on the sex offenders list, and I don’t want people to see what I am doing.” I had her come around to my computer, and we did the search together. Similarly, while working at a joint-use community college/public library (that serves both children and adults without filters in the adult reference areas), I conducted, in about a three hour time period, patron searches for cybersex, sadomasochism, and burlesque. At our reference desk, the patrons were able to see my results without exposing any children to my findings.

Storage of staff materials: This point is so banal and rudimentary that it would never make a library journal or even a library management meeting, but it is a real concern. Librarians collect, store and use lots of stuff at the reference desk. Typically, the first thing consultants say during every library building audit is that desks are too cluttered, creating artificial patron barriers. This is probably true, but what can be sacrificed? We keep our Ready Reference behind the reference desk because we don’t want our most valuable or most frequently used materials, such as state statues, how to do your own divorce books, and Consumer Reports, walking off. We need to have our marketing materials near to push our latest and greatest electronic databases; and, summer reading prizes take up much space. Although summer reading is only three months of the year, those three months are among our busiest and most important periods, and there must be ample space to accommodate reading logs, prizes, and drawing boxes. Without a reference desk , alternative plans have to be made for summer reading materials, requiring more volunteers to make sure that the items remain untouched and are not stolen.

On-Desk versus off-desk work: This is another real life concern for librarians who work the reference desk far more than the two hours a day that is recommended by most library science professors. The average public librarian works the reference desk four to eight hours a day, which means they must perform some of their non-reference duties on the reference desk, such as collection development, repair& review, displays, booklist creation, program planning, outreach development, and story-time preparation. If the reference desk is removed, staff must be given a place and time to perform these tasks.

An immediate, well-marked point of service: A reference desk serves a focal point in the library where patrons with all different levels of information-seeking behavior can approach to ask variety of questions. Patrons assumes the person sitting at the reference desk will help them find what they are seeking whether it is the restrooms, a New York Times Best Seller, a Paula Deen cookbook, or a silent film on DVD. The concept is simple: one stop for all your information needs. This concept is eradicated when reference desks are removed and staff is roving around with electronic equipment and headsets.

Reference desk as a symbol for great library service: Although traditional reference desks swallow a substantial portion of prime library real estate that could be used possibly for display shelving or more computer terminals, the size of the reference desk symbolizes the power and authority of the librarian. A large desk in the middle of library gives the impression that the person behind the desk has the knowledge and skills to give you authoritative information that you want and need.

These are just a few things that should be considered when deciding to completly remove the reference desk or to put in a station so small that it loses many of its practical everyday usefulness. It is not necessary remove reference desks in order to use the roving reference approach of having your staff go into the stacks and onto floor to help customers at their points of need. But, let’s preserve the functionality, practicality and familiarity associated with the reference desk and spend our time thinking about real barriers to service, such as current legal identification being required for library cards; library fines and fees; staff not speaking the same languages as their patrons; books being shelved too high or too low for patrons to reach comfortably; and, limits on computer use and material check-outs being too restrictive.

Let’s think about real challenges that face our staff and patrons, and hold onto our references desks as bastions of clarity among information overload. Getting rid of the reference desk is like throwing out the books with the bubble wrap and packing peanuts. As a profession, let’s retain onto our reference desks just like we keep our books, and let’s embrace other forms of reference much like we adopt audio-books and e-books. No need for either/or.