Public Service
I began my work in libraries as a student worker in a small graduate library and continued on through various positions in academic libraries. Over the years I've developed my personal approach to working with the public and dealing with the issues that arise at the service desk. I believe the best approach to public service work is equal amounts kindness and patience and it has served me well. I've been lucky to work with a wide variety of patrons over the years including faculty, researchers, alumni, and students of all backgrounds.
My approach to working with the public is something I try to spread to those around me, especially student workers and those not used to working in a public service environment. I want patrons to see me as a trusted source of help and information and I try to be that every time I step behind the desk.
My approach to working with the public is something I try to spread to those around me, especially student workers and those not used to working in a public service environment. I want patrons to see me as a trusted source of help and information and I try to be that every time I step behind the desk.
Supervisory experience
Supervising student workers for over ten years has taught me a lot about students and myself. I encourage a cooperative and supportive work environment and believe in transparency with my employees, students and staff alike. An important part of keeping student workers interested and engaged is to help them understand how their work affects the work and lives of the students and faculty on campus. It's designed to help them understand how the library works as a whole and their part in the success of that process. I've found that for most students, especially those interested in working in the library, that understanding comes over time and informs the quality of the work they do.
Working in a small library that relies heavily on the work of undergraduate students (especially evenings and weekends) means the quality of training is of the utmost importance. I invested a lot of time and energy into training the students and was rewarded by their work on a daily basis. My time at Denison taught me a lot about best practices for training and managing employees.
When I moved to Honnold-Mudd Library and managed the Materials Handling unit I oversaw mainly international graduate students. It was a change to work with students who commuted to work and tended to work hours when I was there to supervise directly. The approach I took with the students at Denison Library was not effective in this particular environment. I had to adapt to the students and the type of work they were doing (see Stacks Maintenance section below).
Working in a small library that relies heavily on the work of undergraduate students (especially evenings and weekends) means the quality of training is of the utmost importance. I invested a lot of time and energy into training the students and was rewarded by their work on a daily basis. My time at Denison taught me a lot about best practices for training and managing employees.
When I moved to Honnold-Mudd Library and managed the Materials Handling unit I oversaw mainly international graduate students. It was a change to work with students who commuted to work and tended to work hours when I was there to supervise directly. The approach I took with the students at Denison Library was not effective in this particular environment. I had to adapt to the students and the type of work they were doing (see Stacks Maintenance section below).
Stacks Maintenance
At Denison Library I supervised the day-to-day shelving and other aspects of stacks maintenance. I supervised a number of shifting projects over the years and spent many summers in the stacks looking for ways to gain a little more room to grow. Most of the work was fairly routine but my biggest project was a large scale weeding project in the circulating collection that would allow the shift of a major section of the collection to another floor.
A committee was formed to discuss options and workflows for the project. I coordinated the project on the Denison side and worked closely with subject specialists, libraries' IT, and bibliographic services to create a workflow that would eliminate unnecessary handling of materials between libraries. (All of the units I worked with were located in Honnold-Mudd Library when this project was executed.) The first phase of the project was a wide scale de-duping of the collection. I worked with subject specialists on the lists created for us by the systems librarian and in some cases served as a proxy for those who were unable to spend time weeding in person. This project was successful in gaining the library much needed space and made the transfer of the entire circulating collection to Honnold-Mudd Library a couple of years later much more manageable.
Here is one of the spreadsheets we used to calculate space needed for the Denison circulating collections in Honnold-Mudd.
A committee was formed to discuss options and workflows for the project. I coordinated the project on the Denison side and worked closely with subject specialists, libraries' IT, and bibliographic services to create a workflow that would eliminate unnecessary handling of materials between libraries. (All of the units I worked with were located in Honnold-Mudd Library when this project was executed.) The first phase of the project was a wide scale de-duping of the collection. I worked with subject specialists on the lists created for us by the systems librarian and in some cases served as a proxy for those who were unable to spend time weeding in person. This project was successful in gaining the library much needed space and made the transfer of the entire circulating collection to Honnold-Mudd Library a couple of years later much more manageable.
Here is one of the spreadsheets we used to calculate space needed for the Denison circulating collections in Honnold-Mudd.
When I moved to Honnold-Mudd Library in 2009 I took over a unit that was in transition. I came into the position as the circulating collections from the campus branches (including Denison) were being incorporated into one collection at Honnold. I coordinated, along with the manager of our off-site storage facility, to merge the collections from three campus libraries with the existing collection at the central library.
Working on stacks maintenance is an important part of maintaining a healthy library. I also found it an excellent way to get to know the collections, which made me better at the public service aspects of my job. The knowledge I gained from the years I spent working with the collections is something I use on a daily basis when assisting patrons at the reference desk and when teaching students about research practices.
Working on stacks maintenance is an important part of maintaining a healthy library. I also found it an excellent way to get to know the collections, which made me better at the public service aspects of my job. The knowledge I gained from the years I spent working with the collections is something I use on a daily basis when assisting patrons at the reference desk and when teaching students about research practices.
Moving forward
I will take the skills and knowledge acquired as a paraprofessional and apply them as I move into a professional position. As I move forward and take on more managerial responsibilities I plan to use the resources and opportunities that professional organizations, such as ALA, offer to help me succeed in my professional career.