Librarians
Deliver quality information services for the benefit of users by using unique technical skills to develop, acquire, organise and preserve information resources, and to research, design and deliver customised services in a networked environment.
A Saturday at the front desk
You are a librarian at a busy public library branch on a Saturday, helping everyone from toddlers to retirees. It is just after ten. The library is full, a school project has sent students to the shelves and the only other librarian has called in sick. A few conversations will test your patience and your judgement.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I need to renew my pension and the form is only online. I've never used a computer. Everyone is busy and I feel silly asking. Could you just do it for me? I'll give you my details.
Take her details and fill in the form on her behalf, to save time, since the library is full and she seems anxious
The form is submitted, but you now hold private information you should not have, and Mrs Nowak learns nothing. Helping someone is not the same as doing a private task for them.
Sit beside her, show her each step and let her enter her own information, then check she is comfortable
It takes twenty minutes, and Mrs Nowak is proud of herself at the end. She returns next week to use the computer on her own.
Direct her to the computer room and tell her the staff there will help
The room is full, and she waits an hour without help. She goes home upset. It is right to point her to the room, but she needed a person to get started.
Can I use the library computer to look at something personal? I don't want the staff to see it. Can you turn off the monitoring thing? I'm not doing anything bad, I promise.
Turn off the monitoring, because you trust him and he asked politely
You are not allowed to switch it off, and you have broken the library's rules for one person. If something went wrong, you would be responsible. Trust does not override safeguards.
Explain what the filters and rules do, and what privacy he can expect, then point him to the quieter spaces nearby
He understands the rules and uses a quieter seat. He still does not know what happens to his browsing information. A clearer answer on privacy would have helped.
Explain what is monitored, what is private and offer help with a safe, private way to find what he needs
Cass relaxes, and it turns out he is looking for advice about a hard situation at home. You point him to a trusted service. Privacy and safety can both be respected.
The council is cutting our budget next year. We can keep either the weekly toddler session or extra opening hours on weeknights. I need your view, as you see the most of our regulars.
Choose the option you personally prefer and say it is what the community wants
Ms Adeyemi makes the decision on a hunch. When the community disagrees, there is no evidence to back the choice, and the library is blamed.
Tell her you cannot choose, because both are important
It is true, but it leaves the decision with no help. A librarian who knows the community is well placed to say who uses what.
Offer what you know about who uses each service, suggest a quick survey of regulars and share the trade offs
The survey shows that each service reaches people the other does not, and a shorter session on weeknights is a compromise. Evidence and community voices make a hard choice easier to explain.
How it went
The library closes with a satisfied student, a visitor who learned something new and a hard decision approached fairly. Libraries are about information, people and access, and a librarian helps every kind of visitor find what they need. Does that sound like a place you would like to work?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The book that someone wanted off the shelf
A fictional case set in a busy branch of a fictional council public library, with a children's corner and a computer room.
The situation
Hamid was a librarian at the Redwater Library. A parent, Mr Ellery, came to the desk holding a young adult novel his daughter had borrowed. It dealt with a teenager coping with bullying, and he felt some of the language was not suitable for children. He asked Hamid to remove it from the shelves and said he would tell other parents to do the same. His voice was calm but firm, and a small queue was forming behind him.
What they did
Hamid listened without interrupting and thanked Mr Ellery for caring about his daughter's reading. He explained that the book was in the young adult section on purpose and showed him the library's review form, which anyone could use to ask the library to reconsider a title. He also showed Mr Ellery the library's recommendations for his daughter's age, and offered to help find books that suited his family. He did not argue about the book's merits.
How it turned out
Mr Ellery filled in the form, and the library's team reviewed it fairly and kept the book where it was. Mr Ellery was not fully happy but felt he had been heard. His daughter later came back with a friend to borrow the sequel, and he borrowed a different book himself.
What would you do?
- Why did Hamid avoid arguing about whether the book was good?
- How can a library serve families with very different values?
- What do you think a librarian needs to know besides books?