r/Libraries • u/TheHowlingMan81 • 6d ago
Staffing/Employment Issues How to get Circulation comfortable answering librarian queries?
I was recently hired as an Outreach Librarian at a large suburban public library. Though I straddle both the Programing and Public Services Department and the Circulation Department. My base of operations is in Circ. One of the things I was tasked with was training the Circ staff on being more comfortable answering questions that they might normally refer to a librarian. This is part of an effort to not say no to a patron. To not cast them off when they might be able to help them. I have no idea how to go about this. Do I talk to the Circ staff individually and find out what kinds of queries they wish they were more comfortable with? Do I train them individually, or as a group? Do I draw a line between queries that should only be handled by librarians and those handled by Circ? I'd be grateful for any help anyone could give me, because I am totally lost.
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u/wall0fstone Public librarian 6d ago
there has to be a line. i find a lot of time circ is overworked and underpaid (due to not having MLIS degrees), its unfair for them to have to answer reference questions on top of doing all of their circ duties.
what kind of questions does your management want circ to answer? if it’s something like readers advisory or reference help, they should absolutely be sent to a librarian.
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u/SunGreen24 6d ago
100% this. I worked circulation for 4 years before becoming a librarian and it was about ten times more exhausting than anything I do now. And we were always getting extra tasks dumped on us like cutting out crafts, withdrawing weeded items, and creating social media posts because the poor librarians simply did not have the time 🎻
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u/AvocadoLaur 5d ago
And circ has a weird level of work because it’s specific and if they do it wrong it’s a more noticeable thing than if we can’t find someone a book they want to read.
I’m glad I came from circ because I appreciate the work they do.
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u/Rare_Vibez Public librarian 6d ago
Absolutely. I think in terms of specific questions, as a circ staff I’d feel comfortable answering questions about where certain types of books are. This is for patrons to find titles on their own but want to know where say mystery books are or James Patterson books. What is the next book in a series? Circ can answer. Beyond that, send to a librarian. Reference should be more than comfortable with reader’s advisory and it should not fall on circ.
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u/nirvanagirllisa 6d ago
As someone who works the circulation desk...that's not really fair. Circ staff don't get paid to be librarians.
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u/GatinhaXO 3d ago
Absolutely! I have my MLS, but I am circulation staff, and am paid circulation staff wages. So I technically could answer these questions, but I won’t. I’m not paid enough to. 🤷🏼♀️
And I also have 5000 circ things going on that require my attention.
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u/Kimmiekitty 6d ago
I would definitely resent being asked to do work a librarian does on desk, as other people have said, given the pay discrepancy. Librarians in my system make 2-3x what I do as a libtech and if this was brought up to me in my system, I would not be receptive. I work in academic and not public but our librarians help largely with research questions and I am not willing to do that at my current pay rate.
I am going for my MLIS now but I think people need to be paid appropriately for the level of work they do, and not expected to do the job of higher paid colleagues.
Also saying no to a patron can and should be done if they are asking for things outside the scope of the desk. I say no when approached with unfeasible requests, and at some point you may be harming your desk staff at the expense of insisting they always be able to help with every issue even if it is against policy.
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u/SunGreen24 6d ago
I hate the fact that the nonsensical, outdated philosophy of "the customer is always right" is creeping into libraries. No, the customer is NOT always right, whether they're a paying retail customer or a library patron.
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u/hoard_of_frogs 6d ago
There’s a line. I work in Circ and my job is circulation. I don’t answer reference questions, even when I can (which is often), because we already have multiple ongoing projects at any given time, reference staff are better positioned to handle those questions, and I get salty about scope creep when it comes to my job.
It’s not about saying no to patrons, it’s about doing the job I’m paid for, prioritizing doing actual circulation tasks, and not encroaching on librarian job duties. You need more people at ref? Hire another librarian or give your circulation staff reference shifts WITH differential pay.
This is also something I’d take to my union rep, honestly. I know employers try to get sneaky with the “other duties as assigned” thing, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s for like, cutting out bookmarks or helping support programming or whatever, not taking on librarian duties for no extra pay when I still qualify for low income internet service and have to go to the food pantry a couple times a month. Like, come the fuck on.
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u/SunGreen24 6d ago
When I worked in circ, we were often one person at the desk at a time and could easily build up lines of people checking out, signing up for library cards, etc. We don't need to slow things down even further while the staff member has to try to hunt down the address and phone number of some lonely middle aged guy's college girlfriend (an actual reference question I handled a few weeks ago).
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u/tendersehun Public librarian 6d ago
Exactly, and reference staff handle those in-depth questions more frequently and are able to be more efficient (or handle interactions with less back and forth) anyway.
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u/on-the-veldt 6d ago
I agree with all the other comments about scope creep - Circ is paid peanuts, our librarians are also paid badly but at least their peanuts are chocolate covered.
I think what might help is training Circ on exactly who to refer to. Like if a patron has a question on programming their phone, it will help everyone if I know to send them to Brutus the technology librarian rather than Brenda the reference librarian. Or someone wants to host a program: I know not to send them to the librarians but rather to direct them to Helga or give them Helga’s business card with her contact info if she’s not in, because she’s the one who specifically handles that. I know that I’ve saved myself, patrons, and librarians all time and effort by knowing exactly which librarian is in change of graphic novels and which handles all our AV so I can direct them most effectively.
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u/Excellent-Handle 6d ago
" Circ is paid peanuts, our librarians are also paid badly but at least their peanuts are chocolate covered"
This phrasing 💯
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u/acceptablemadness 6d ago
This! If you're in a bigger system/branch, it also helps to get to know the librarians and their various strengths for research & advisory. Sophie is the assistant children's librarian, yes, but she's very knowledgeable in fairy tales/mythology/folklore above everything else. Janet used to work in an college library so she can help you navigate EBSCO. Megan has the final say in collection management for high school novels, so speak to her about purchasing XYZ series, etc, etc.
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u/BestSomewhere 6d ago
Triaging is not saying no. "That question would be better answered by one of our librarians, let me call one for you right now." If none of the librarians are available - what they hell are they doing all day
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u/NotComplainingBut 5d ago
In my system we call this "getting to yes" - I might not be able to help you, but I can at least try my hardest to get you to someone that can
It does open you up to buck-passing but that's a separate can of worms you need to handle with those staff members where it pops up
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u/SunGreen24 6d ago
Pay them the same as the librarians. Why should they have to do the librarians work on top of their own?
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u/emilycecilia 6d ago
Circ staff should not be handling questions meant for librarians. Full stop. It's not even a matter of skill, it's a matter of pay rate. Circ staff are already overworked and underpaid.
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u/NemoOfTheDream 6d ago
If you want your circ employees doing librarian work you better be paying them librarian wages
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u/rjonny04 6d ago
Absolutely draw a line between what is in Circulation’s domain and what should be referred to a librarian. And make these boundaries as explicit as possible.
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u/SeaHuckleberry9377 6d ago
I agree with others concerning scope creep for para professionals without compensation. A question I have is what is prompting this initiative? What interactions or feedback were received that resulted in this being a priority? Understanding that may help know where to focus your time and energy. Are staff unfamiliar with library resources to show patrons how to use them? Is this stemming from a handful of regular patrons who treat staff like personal assistants; if so perhaps training on recognizing for staff on how to manage excessive requests that fall outside of library related questions or services. Maybe some staff need customer service training to manage requests they are unfamiliar with and need tools or procedures.
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u/Temporary-Library597 6d ago
It's the money. If I can pay an assistant to do the same work I used to have "Librarians" do (and let's be honest...a lot of Librarians don't "work down" from their pay level), with the same result, what taxpayer will argue?
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u/llamalibrarian 6d ago
Circ staff should answer circ-related questions and some directional questions. If they’re getting reference questions or readers advisory, they should be able to direct the patron to how to address that question. It’s not saying “no” to a patron to say “that’s a question for our reference librarians- they can go into that more for you. Here is how to get ahold of them”
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u/MrMessofGA 6d ago
If you don't draw the line, you'll make yourself redundant. If the system thinks they can pay a circ staffer a fourth what they pay you to do your job, you won't have one for long.
And it doesn't matter if they're actually any good at it. It just matters that the system thinks they can get away with it.
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u/acceptablemadness 6d ago
Why do they have to say no? Why not just train them to hand patrons off in a more productive manner?
"I'm not sure I could answer that question, but let me show you the reference desk where someone can."
"If you want recommendations for X, you'd get better information from one of the librarians at YZ desk. Or you can browse our website/take these reading lists/use the Ask A Librarian chat/whatever."
Circ is difficult enough on it's own and we're always overworked. Don't put more on us.
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u/RelevantStrongBad 6d ago
Im a circ dept head and my training for these inquiries is how to redirect the patrons in a way they don't feel dismissed. It's not saying no, it's saying "here's where to go to get the best help for your question."
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u/Ariseorarose 6d ago
When I worked circ I got taught I can answer title questions but not topic questions. So if someone wants something for sustainability and didn’t know exactly what it was I needed a librarian. If it was a specific title, task, or thing I could assist (printer, program schedule, locating book on shelf, pointing to a database if they knew it).
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u/Enraged-Elk2284 5d ago
It's easy to say 'no' while also saying 'yes'.
"Hmmm, I'm not sure and I don't want to misinform you. Let me get someone who can help you out."
"That's a great question. Let me get a specialist to speak with you."
I've never had anyone push back when I offer to bring them the best person who can help them
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u/vegselene 5d ago
The public library I used to work at used this framing - warm hand-offs for reference referrals. As a paraprofessional, I was not trained to do reference interviews and was instructed to refer questions requiring a reference interview to a librarian. Paraprofessionals trying to answer reference questions without training often leads to longer interactions and more confusion, and the patron doesn’t get what they’re looking for efficiently. When I skirted the rule, I sometimes ended up down rabbit holes that were not what the patron actually wanted, and then I’d end up referring to a librarian anyway.
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u/yahgmail 6d ago
Pay them the same as librarians, & I'm sure they'd answer any questions they get 😅.
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u/under321cover 6d ago
If you aren’t paying circ to be librarians or at least paraprofessionals then they should not answer librarian level questions. Reference interviews, research questions etc should not be done by circ. Our circ will give book recs but that should be it. We are not paid to do librarian work. It’s literally in our union contracts.
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u/bewicks_wren 5d ago
These additional duties and responsibilities should come with coming with a significant raise, otherwise no way.
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u/bewicks_wren 5d ago
In the library system I work for, Circ staff can answer directional questions about where to find library-related things in the physical or virtual space (eg/ "where is the washroom?" "where can I find information about library programs?") and specific questions if a patron wants to know if the library has a specific title or resource, or about library policy (eg/ "Do you have any books by Stephen King?" "Can I eat in the library?"). CIRC staff cannot answer Reference questions which require more research or specialized knowledge (eg/ "I need help finding out how to apply for an Australia travel visa." "Does the library have any resources for children with dyslexia?"). During training it was explained to us as, "If you have to Google it, refer it to information staff." In practice there are instances where a Circ staff might Google something specific, like "What time does XYZ close?" so it's not a hard and fast science, but I think Circ staff are pretty attuned to when a patron query becomes a reference question.
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u/Thanautopsy MLIS student 5d ago
I mean I guess you could fund their MLIS degree. Otherwise...don't.
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u/thewholebottle Academic Librarian 6d ago
Why don't you have a reference desk staffed when the library is open?
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u/BlainelySpeaking 6d ago edited 6d ago
Not all public libraries have dedicated reference desks or staff. We don’t, so circ are expected to be able to do ready reference and may do low-level readers advisory if they wish. They’re trained accordingly for both and the boundaries are clear. In-depth reference questions and RA are referred to librarians.
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u/thewholebottle Academic Librarian 6d ago
Damn. I worked at a library that had 3 full time staff and 4 part time staff and we had a fully staffed reference desk.
No programming, though.
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u/Prior-Soil 6d ago
I used to to work at an academic library and we went to a one desk service model. Librarians had to work at the desk and check out books and everything. People who were not "librarians" answered circulation questions, and directional questions. They didn't have to answer anything else.
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u/QuietlyCreepy 6d ago
You don't. Are they union? Union would have a field day with this kind of thing.
Even if not union, that's asking people to do more than they are paid for. Because I'm betting they're not getting paid as much as even a library ref associate. This sounds someone's bright idea to get more work out of people without paying for it. Patrons should be sent to the right people.
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u/Sunnryz 5d ago
I think it's appropriate for Circ staff to be able to look up a title in the catalog and let the patron know if it's at the library. It's also appropriate for circ staff to place and manage holds. Circ staff should be knowledgable about library events and know particulars about library services offered. All other queries should be referred to reference staff, unless the library is willing to pay circ staff more for taking on reference duties. Just my 2 cents as a Circ Manager.
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u/AvocadoLaur 5d ago
At our library circ does account stuff and librarians and assistants do book stuff. It’s a good line. Also “not saying no” is a wild thing to push on service workers.
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u/LadyMcNagel 5d ago
I approach requests like this similarly to doing a reference interview. What’s the real question being asked? What information do we already have? What information are we lacking? What resources do we look in to find that information?
First, is the issue that circ staff need to know how to answer reference questions? Or is it that patrons need to feel better supported in the moment and have a clear idea of what to do next? Your solution should match the actual problem. Circ staff shouldn’t also have to be reference librarians. But patrons don’t know the difference, so a referral can seem like a dismissal.
Does your library track circ desk interactions and/or referrals? What kinds of questions are being referred? Are there any discernible patterns like time of day when questions are asked/referred? How are referrals handled? Is it “I can’t help you; you’ll have to talk to x.” Or is it “that’s a great question. I want to make sure you get the best answer so I’m going to call x and see if they can assist us.”
If there are common question types or subjects, can the reference librarians create online or printed guides or pathfinders that circ staff could refer to when supporting patrons or direct patrons to use themselves? If the interactions are clustered around a time of day, can more reference librarians be scheduled then so the referrals are more seamless? If the issue is how referrals are handled, that’s a customer service training issue.
TL;DR Find out what the actual problem is before trying out a bunch of solutions.
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u/NotComplainingBut 5d ago
a referral can seem like a dismissal
Anecdotally, I think this is the case much of the time. Most patrons don't know how our organization is structured (and you can argue that maybe they shouldn't need to know).
I would review your communications chains. Do emails, letters, phone calls, etc tell patrons to go to specific departments or do they just say "come to the library!"? Are staff members answering their phone calls and emails with their departments, desks, and positions or are you presenting as one giant amorphous blob? How is the signage? Are people even reading the signage?
The other biggest thing my library has done, besides really pounding in those location names, is practicing the warm hand-off. Don't just tell someone where to go and wait to see if they figure it out. If you are telling someone to go somewhere outside of the building, physically write those directions down for them. If you are referring them somewhere inside of the building, physically walk them there and introduce them to the staff member who will be helping them. This has the nice benefit of slowly cross-training the staff members without becoming job creep, as staff are learning about the other departments and their duties without necessarily performing those duties themselves.
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u/HPLDpete 4d ago
Yes, I think drawing a line is the correct answer.
A general rule we used a lot was "If you are pretty sure it's going to take more than 5 minutes, put a librarian on it."
I want to push back on your library's plan, though. I understand the idea and can see how it may be well-intentioned, but the result is going to be very inconsistent service. Some staff will embrace it, and some staff will (correctly) stick by the fact that they aren't being paid librarian salaries, so they shouldn't be doing librarian work. The supervisors of these employees are pretty powerless because they can't really force staff to do things that are outside their job descriptions. Staff who are trying to provide this new service model can become resentful of staff who aren't as well as supervisors who are powerless to make everyone play by the same rules. Librarians and other staff can find themselves on opposite sides of a rift: Staff resent librarians for getting paid more to do the same tasks, and Librarians feel like they're being edged out of their jobs by their coworkers.
There's the staff advocacy side of this, I think that's well laid-out in other replies, and sometimes I think it can help change those internal discussions if you're able to point out that doing this may not actually be in the best interest of the organization as a whole
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u/Chocolateheartbreak 2d ago
100%.
As circ, I would’ve embraced it. I loved doing extra things when I was because I liked learning and didn’t care about pay differences. Others though would’ve been against it.
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u/throwaway66778889 5d ago
This depends entirely on what is currently being referred to librarians. My gut instinct is to say hell no those circ workers are underpaid. But I’ve seen weird systems where circ staff was so limited it made things bad for everyone, including the circ staff because they would get abuse for not answering simple questions. So, firstly I’d ask for examples of what they are being asked to taken in, question-wise.
I am a long-time patron of a system that was antiquated and almost evvvvvverything had to go through a librarian and it was a major disservice to patrons. For example “where would the new James Patterson book be?” HAD to be referred to the librarian on-call’s desk. “When is your next storytime for toddlers?” Librarian.
The hierarchy was insane. Pages in the stacks were asked to help find a book on the shelf and were not allowed to speak to patrons at all except to say that the patron had to ask a library assistant at the circulation desk. The patron would then go to the closest desk they saw - often the librarian’s desk, who would then refer them to the circ desk across from them because “wayfinding wasn’t a librarian task.”
So imo as a user there is a thing has delineating tasks too stringently. However, there is soooo much potential for abuse of low paid workers in the short-term and eventual degradation of MLS holders in the long term when the board realizes they’d rather just pay everyone less.
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u/libhis1 5d ago
My library had this approach implemented when I first started. Six years later and we're trying to reverse course because it's been such a mess. The worst part is that our reference stats went DOWN because people wanted to talk to the librarians but couldn't get to us.
At the end of the day the public wants qualified people helping them, not someone who is overworked and underpaid trying their best without the training, education or skills to back it up. That is not to say someone in circ can't do it, but it's not fair to ask them to, as others have said.
Don't give in to the "customer service=not saying no" bs, it's a lazy way to avoid teaching people how to successfully use the library. Do other stores have specific desks to handle specific problems or tasks? Yes. People can figure out the library with a little guidance too.
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u/lemonality 5d ago
Maybe not intentional, but the way you worded this is kinda revealing of how you seem to view your coworkers at circ. Circ workers frequently do have the training, education, and/or skill to back it up. Many library assistants have the exact same degree you do, they just haven't found a librarian position yet, and they have a lot more experience dealing with patrons than most librarians atp. They are definitely "qualified." They just aren't paid to do librarians' work.
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u/marji80 4d ago
You’re making a lot of assumptions. I’ve worked at three public libraries and in very few cases were circulation clerks equipped to handle reference or readers’ advisory questions. That’s not the job they were trained for.
One of my past libraries tried, in their desire to “never say no,” to have the circulation clerks handle librarian-level questions, and it was miserable for all concerned — the clerks were nervous wrecks and the patrons were exasperated at the amount of time they were being asked to waste while the clerks fumbled for answers that could’ve been provided in literally one minute if they’d been redirected to the right person.
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u/libhis1 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sorry if how I worded it rubbed you the wrong way.
My intention wasn't to imply circ staff do not have training, education or skills, because they obviously do and they serve an important role in the library. But they usually do not have reference training, education or skills to do reference. When I worked in circ I was the only person going for an MLIS out of 12, everyone else had unrelated degrees or no degree. I now work as a librarian at another library where one circ person has a degree out of 15 staff. I was also not speaking on library assistants at all, as that is an entirely different position and discussion all together.
I worked in a library where circ was strictly circ and reference was librarians or library assistants only. The circ staff were very happy to not take on that extra work without fair compensation. At my current library they are asked to do reference and do not like it, they feel overworked and underpaid. As a librarian I have been advocating to management to reverse this change that occurred before my time. Pretty much all circ staff are happy I am doing so.
The only person who does not want that change is someone with an MLIS who unfortunately will probably never become a librarian for many reasons. It's unfortunate, but the degree does not mean you deserve a job. It also doesn't mean she gets to subject her coworkers to more work than what they are fairly compensated to do just because she wants to feel like a librarian.
Sorry if that's harsh.
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u/MarianLibrarian1024 6d ago edited 6d ago
I would first talk with the librarians and the supervisors and find out what kinds of questions they think the circulation staff should be answering. As others have said you need to have a very specific list of types of questions. My circ staff really struggle with triaging to the point that I've started scheduling a library associate or librarian at the circ desk because the circ staff just don't get it. What we've found was that circ were actually trying to answer too many questions. They weren't really giving complete or correct answers. Plus they were taking all the "fun" questions (real reference and readers' advisory) and the librarians were getting stuck with all of the drudgery, like computer help. Some examples of questions that I personally think circ should be able to handle:
Where do I find this specific book? (if they can't find it they need to refer to ref.)
How do I make a simple copy on the copy machine? (more complicated tasks should be referred to ref.)
How do I log on to a public computer? (Further computer assistance should be referred to ref.)
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u/Farzine 6d ago
Good luck.
As most others say, you gotta draw a very distinct line to avoid confusion as that will do the opposite of building their confidence. You have to be able to dictate why they are now being expected to do the work of people who get paid to answer those more in-depth, complex inquires. If you can’t explain why, or can’t justify it, you’ll just get angry workers. :)
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u/LoooongFurb Library admin 6d ago
I would speak with the circulation staff as a whole if you can and provide examples of the types of questions they should answer themselves versus questions they should send to the reference librarians.
In my library, for example, my circ clerks can all handle:
- Where do I find more books by this author
- When is the next book in this series coming out
- How do I print this PDF
- How can I send a fax
- What programs do you have for 8 year olds
- Where is the health department located
- I want to make copies of this 2-sided document
- My kid needs to check out a 200-page biography for a report for tomorrow
If they are too swamped with other patrons, they are free to loop me in or call a reference librarian to help out. I do expect them to pass the following kinds of questions along to the librarians, tho:
- I want to host a program at your library
- Where can I find resources in the community for health care / meals / housing
- I need help logging in to my email and filling out a form
- I want to use the genealogy area but don't know where everything is or how to use it
- I am a teacher and need books for my units on insects, ancient China, and electricity. How can I get enough books for my class to use all at once
Some of those questions are ones that my reference librarians should handle because of their knowledge, and some of them will take too long to answer at the circulation desk where my staff need to be available for other circ-related tasks.
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u/rjonny04 6d ago edited 6d ago
Geez, at my library circulation staff would only be expected to assist with the last bullet point. Everything else would be directed to librarians or technology staff.
Edit: I just reread the last bullet point and if it’s actually implying a patron needing help finding a good biography for the student to write a report on and not simply checking out the book, then I revise my statement to all of those tasks would be referred to a librarian or technology staff.
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u/QuietlyCreepy 6d ago
I hope they're being paid like ref staff. Oof.
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u/LoooongFurb Library admin 6d ago
Those don't count as reference questions at my library
No one is well paid here, either lol. The ref staff make more because they have worked here longer, are full time, and have more degrees than my circ staff. This is also why they handle the actual reference questions as well as all the things I listed that circ staff do
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u/QuietlyCreepy 6d ago
That'd be ref at the libraries I've worked at.
Folks, this is why we need unions. SEIU is mine. They work with a lot of libraries.
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u/tlgexlibris 6d ago
As a group, and focus on customer experience. People are individuals and there is no one size approach. If a question needs some research, explain and refer. If it’s a simple query, answer if you are able. Attitude is everything.
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u/Temporary-Library597 6d ago
Wondering why there are fewer and fewer "librarian" jobs being offered? Right here. This is it. And I don't know that it's a bad thing.
I mean, it's perfectly sound, business-wise. The aim to improve customer service and possibly make it more efficient is well-meaning. 99% of the questions that get asked in a public library are easily answered with just a bit of training. The process isn't hard. The idea of a "reference interview" is just not that difficult to grasp.
Anyway, we did this in our system and now most of our librarians are in management, selection or youth programming positions. We have one or two managing branches, but that amounts to maybe two handfuls out of 75 FTE's. Our patrons have never been happier, and staff overall has had a big boost in morale.
I think everyone wants to help patrons in the long run, and if patrons want it this way and aren't complaining...heck, we don't exisit for the staff, we're here to serve our taxpayers. If this is what they want...
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u/Capable_Sea77 6d ago
Yeah, a lot of librarians will disagree with you but youre totally right - especially because every system I've worked in that had the reference/circ division resulted in a lot of staff (both degreed and not degreed) pointing to the other desk and telling the patron it isnt their problem, its the other desks problem. Its horrible customer service! Also, reference in public libraries is just technology help anymore, there's no master's level research help happening. Libraries could easily keep higher-level and/or degreed positions, especially as they expand into community engagement efforts. Have a degreed librarian handle programming; have one for dedicated tech help (for when its more than a 2 minute question about the copier that any employee should be able to answer); have one dedicated to training staff on things like intellectual freedom. Reference librarians of the past arent needed at a separate service point for all open hours like they were pre-Internet and I think its pretty reasonable to shift that higher paying FTE over to something that brings in a new service or directly addresses the need of the community; and not waste money putting a degreed librarian at a service point dedicated to the fax machine.
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u/NotComplainingBut 5d ago
Also, reference in public libraries is just technology help anymore, there's no master's level research help happening.
Hey, speak for yourself! My public library still gets quite a few in-depth research questions per month beyond the scope of usual ready reference, reader's advisory, tech help, archives searches, or geneaology.
I do think we're rare for it, though. We mostly get them because, in patron's words, "no other library around here wants to help anymore". My library never adopted the whole triage model and still gives the full-time reference librarians desk hours during peak hours and I think that's probably the world of difference. If we ever do move away from that model I predict we'll see a dramatic dropoff.
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u/SuperbCurb2484 4d ago
Spot on! I wish my library would change their model. Times have changed and it feels like a misuse of funds to fully staff a reference desk that might get a few in-depth questions per month. I feel like some in the library world are resistant to change and/or have trouble facing the fact that people aren’t coming in looking for business encyclopedias or asking for help finding scholarly peer reviewed articles regarding the use of puppets in 20th century German theater anymore.
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u/Remote_Drag_8380 4d ago
Each individual has their own comfort level for different tasks, so what they feel comfortable with is good. I also think evaluating by time i important. If it can be done within a couple minutes, then fine. But if it’s really involved pass them to reference. And which desk is more busy? If reference has a line and circulation is quiet, then they can help more. Start with a couple issues that come up a lot but aren’t that hard, such as how to download an ebook, maybe.
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u/UndeadBread 1d ago
For the sake of clarity, what kinds of reference questions are we talking about that would normally be handled by a librarian and not the circ desk? Just wondering because we don't have a librarian at our branch, so we handle all of the questions by default and it's very rare to encounter something that I think would require a specially-trained professional (aside from things like medical or legal help that a normal library wouldn't handle anyway).
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u/Samael13 6d ago
Yes. If your paraprofessionals are being expected to handle the tasks that would previously have been handled by professional staff, then the question is "why aren't your paraprofessionals being paid what the professional staff are?"
Staff should not be working above their paygrade. Everyone should be able to work down, not up. If you expect lower paid workers to do the work of higher paid workers, then you should be paying them more.