PVLD Director's Blog

News from the Public Library Association Conference 2008

Adult Services Assistant Manager Debra Petersen and Branch Manager Jennifer Addington attended the Public Library Association's biennial conference in Minneapolis last week and came back full of ideas and enthusiasm.

They are sharing what they learned and their thoughts on their PLA Minneapolis blog.  Check it out for some great ideas...and keep checking as there is more to come!

I think we might transform this blog into the "PVLD conference" blog as a way of sharing what we learn at the various conferences and workshops that staff attend. 

Bookstores as For-Profit Libraries?

Last week George Needham of OCLC wrote a post titled "Is Borders Becoming a For Profit Library" at It's All Good.  He linked to this article on Borders' new strategy for integrating technology-based services into the bricks and mortar bookstore experience:

"... Borders' newest retail strategy: a digital center where you can download music or books, burn CDs, research family histories, print pictures and order leather-bound books crammed with family photos — with help from clerks who know how to do those sorts of things and won't embarrass you if you don't...reinventing itself as a hub for knowledge, entertainment and digital downloading."

Ah, what you can do with money!  Here at PVLD we'd love to offer services like this, and to have the resources to train staff to "do those sorts of things".

For me, however, the most telling part of the article was not the description of the gee-whiz technology, or the description of how the new Borders "concept "store will be organized, with "... new themed book islands are built around lifestyle genres, including travel, cooking and health."

No, for me the most telling part of the article was this (emphasis mine!) -

"One of the saving graces for bookstores, say analysts, consumers and industry officials, is they offer people with shared interests a site to gather and socialize. The addition of coffee shops — which you'll find in nearly every Borders and Barnes & Nobles store — has accelerated the trend. Now, Jones hopes digital downloads can take the stores to the next level.

"Bookstores are typically the place that people like to go and congregate, so if (the stores) can monetize that, it's powerful," says Schick, who calls Borders' move "an attempt at evolution."

That's something that Amazon, for all its considerable market muscle, can't quite duplicate."

A major theme of the article is the threat that the slowing economy poses to bookstores.  When people are worried about job security, the housing market, and gas prices they are less likely to buy books.  That's good news for libraries because we offer much of what the book store does (ok maybe not the digital kiosk!) and its free.  That's why library use goes up in tough economic times, while bookstore sales go down.

The bad news? 

If you didn't know they were coming from Borders, phrases like "a hub for knowledge, entertainment, and digital downloading" or "they offer people with shared interests a site to gather and socialize" could have come straight from the strategic plan of many a library.

I'm one of those who thinks that bookstores actually do pose a competitive threat to libraries and that we need to face that threat head-on, and articles like this just reinforce that view. 

Borders and its ilk are definitely playing on our turf, and if they succeed in "monetizing" services that we offer for free (or close to free) while we struggle to maintain and improve services with budgets that are under even more pressure than usual in tough economic times, we're going to have to be pretty creative to hold our ground long-term. 

But back to some good news...evidence of our creativity abounds!  With examples like the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County's Learning 2.0 program; the growing use of free Web 2.0 tools like Meebo or eBlogger to deliver library services; a culture that encourages sharing and collaboration; and technology-based tools that make that collaboration easier than ever before (witness the viral spread of the aforementioned Learning 2.0 idea), I think we have the ability to meet the competitive challenge, even if it sometimes feels like David vs. Goliath.  We should disregard what the bookstores are doing at our peril, though!

Designing the User Experience

One of the blogs I follow regularly is Designing Better Libraries because I love the way it brings ideas from the non-library world of design in to the library context.  Today there was a post on The Total User Experience featuring Valeda Dent of Rutgers University reporting on a talk by usability expert Dr. Bill Gribbons .

The concept of moving from designing for "usability" to designing the "user experience" (referred to as UX)is one that has been talked about in business circles, and to a lesser extent in library circles, for some time.  It's been the subject of at least one best-selling business book and the concept underpinning the design of the Cerritos Public Library not too far from here. 

Up until now I've not been a huge fan of the "experience" school of design mainly because I have tended to associate it with "experience" businesses like the Rainforest Cafe, or Disneyland - i.e. somewhat gimmicky.

Then I read Valeda Dent's description of designing for the user experience as "shifting that burden of understanding how to use something or find something away from the user" and a light went on.

This is something PVLD has been trying to do in everything from the design of the new carpet at the Peninsula Center Library to the design of our new website, we just haven't called it "UX".  That simple concept of "shifting the burden of understanding how to use something away from the user" should be a test we apply to everything we do...no Imagineers or fake trees required. That's a design concept I can embrace!

Good news for a Friday afternoon

Its a dreary and cold Friday afternoon (at least by Southern California standards) at the end of another week of trying to cram too much activity into too little time.  I don't have time for a lengthy or particularly thoughtful post, but it's always nice to end the week with some good news and I'm pleased to have several items to share.

• We were delighted to learn this week that two of our up-and-coming staff members, Jennifer Addington and Eve Wittenmyer, were selected to participate in the Eureka Leadership program sponsored by the State Library.  They are among only 36 future library leaders selected from across the State, and to have two participants from our little library system is quite an honor.  They'll be attending a one week intensive leadership development retreat, and working on a project to develop a customer service philosophy and supporting systems and training for PVLD.  More evidence of the quality of our staff!
• We were also delighted to receive confirmation that we will receive the full $5,000 "first year" grant for our Early Family Literacy (ELF) program.  Our Young Readers Librarians have many ideas about how to help parents and caregivers develop early literacy skills and the funding will be a big help.  We are going to use our Malaga Cove Library as the centerpiece of this program, and working with local pre-schools and the School District.  Our first "ELF" event - a baby sign language program - took place this week and was a big success.  Thanks to Marisa Perley for spearheading this project!
• On a more global note, several blogs this week mentioned a Wired Magazine article Why Things Suck: Things that Don't Suck in which public libraries were rated as one of the top "things that don's suck".  Thanks to Jeff Scott over at Gather No Dust for the tip!  Shows we have at least some relevance for the digital generation!

Have a great weekend...and if you are in California, stay dry!

We've been yelped

yelp decal on door
Originally uploaded by Don and Kathy Gould.

Yesterday I was reading Aaron Schmidt's's post on "fun signs" over at his Walking Paper blog.  Aaron posted a photo of a "People Love Us on Yelp" decal and said how great it would be to find one on a library door.  For those who don't know, Yelp is a user review sight where people review all kinds of things, including libraries, and you can search for reviews by location (e.g. all libraries in the 90274 zip code, or all restaurants in San Francisco).  It's a cool site and one that I use often.

When you get 5 good reviews on Yelp you get a decal, and PVLD is proud that it received its decal a couple of months ago - here it is on the door to the Peninsula Center Library building (it's the "red dot" on the left side of the left door - all of the reflections made getting a good photo difficult!), although we have yet to settle on a permanent home.

I emailed Aaron last night via flckr, and was pleased to see this on his blog today http://www.walkingpaper.org/548

We're proud of our 5 star Yelp rating - just wish the one four star review didn't indicate that staff weren't responsive to a customer concern (although it should be noted that we DO allow packaged snacks and covered beverages in the library).  We also recently changed the requirements for getting to be a library card - you need to be a California resident and show a photo i.d., but if the address on the photo i.d. is your current address you don't need to bring in a utility bill.  But now I'm just being picky!

Anyway - we're proud of our positive Yelp reviews, and of the mention on Aaron's very popular blog.

Minority Rules?

We are in the process of implementing a new Integrated Library System – the software that supports all of our core library processes from the purchase of books and other library materials to cataloging and inventory control, to issuing library cards and checking books out and in, to the online catalog that our customers use. This has proven to be a wonderful opportunity to review policies and practices so that we not only align them with the capabilities of the new software, but also improve internal efficiency and (more importantly) improve our customers' experience of the library. We've been looking at everything from what identification is required to obtain a library card to our somewhat baroque fine and fee structure to our internal purchasing policies and procedures.

Throughout this process it has become obvious that in many cases we have implemented policies and practices because of the minority of people who do the wrong thing, and in the process make things more difficult for the majority who do the right thing. PVLD's Manager of Digital Library Services, David Campbell, has been vigilant about asking the question "Are we doing this for the 5% or the 95%?" and as a result we are changing things in ways that might create a very small amount of risk for PVLD, but offer significantly more convenience for our customers.

When I came across this post on The Tyranny of One by Ben McConnell of The Church of the Customer (a great non-library blog about customer service) I had to chuckle. Obviously libraries aren't the only ones whose response to the "tyranny of one" is to create a rule that punishes everyone else (and is usually implemented after the horse has already bolted so to speak), although if PVLD's policy manual is any example we seem to have elevated it to a fine art.

At least we are recognizing the problem and trying to address it…now we just have to realize that our other favorite response to an issue, putting up a sign, isn't any better!

The Intimidating Library

This morning at a business breakfast I sat next to a local woman about my age (that is to say not a kid, but not an "older adult" either). We had not met before, and as we chatted before the speaker began she told about a Small Business workshop that she had attended the week before. The workshop was sponsored by the Small Business Administration and intended to give people contemplating starting a business information about tax laws, forms of incorporation, funding sources, business plans, etc. It apparently featured a number of speakers.

The good news was that my table-mate reported that a number of the speakers talked about the value of the public library as a resource for small businesses. The less good news was that there was no one at the workshop from a public library who could talk in any detail about the resources and services libraries offer. The worse news was that, when asked, many people in the audience indicated that they had not visited their public library in some time. But the worst news of all was what my companion told me about why she personally does not use the library very often.

She said that the primary reason she does not use the library is that she is intimidated. As someone who last regularly used the library as a student, when we still had card catalogs, she is not at all confident about using the computer catalog and certainly doesn't find it intuitive. And as she put it to me "Even though I know there are staff members who could help me, I am embarrassed to ask because I feel like I should know how to do this." She went on to say that the last time she was in the library she was trying to find something and must have looked like she needed help so a high school student came over and helped her find what she was looking for.

She wasn't talking about a generally unwelcoming environment, or unfriendly staff. She was talking about a set of systems and service models that discourage her from even trying to use our services.

Wow! What an indictment. Now bear in mind that this is a confident, articulate, college-educated, reasonably outgoing, native English speaker who is technologically savvy enough to be making good use of her Blackberry during the breakfast. If she's intimidated what about those who are less well-educated, don't have good English language skills, or are just shy?

Joan Frye Williams, Stephen Abrams, and other leading library thinkers keep telling librarians that our systems and service models discourage library use but it takes it to a whole new level of understanding when a member of your own community tells you why she finds using your library intimidating! It certainly raises a number of questions for us here at PVLD –

Why didn't someone on staff notice she needed assistance and come to her aid? Most likely because our staff still mostly sit at the service desks (Circulation, Reference, Young Readers) and wait for people to come to them to ask for help – and whether we think we are intimidating or not, many people do find asking for help at a desk intimidating. We really need to move forward in our goals of (1) getting people out from behind the desk and (2) training and empowering staff at all levels to offer "first level" assistance (such as looking up a book) to customers rather than making that the exclusive purview of the librarians. As Melissa Little, the Assistant Manager in the Customer Service Department and one of our newest employees asked the other day – Does it make sense to have two people at the Reference Desk helping a line of people many of whom just want to look up a book while four employees wait at the Circulation Desk for someone to come check something out? Wouldn't those Circulation employees be better used out on the floor helping customers?

How can we make our catalogs more intuitive and user-friendly for casual library users? This is something that is getting a lot of energetic discussion at PVLD as we design our new web site and new catalog. I think our new systems will be much easier for people to use than what we have now, but I worry that it will be very difficult to overcome our reputation, well-earned over a long period of time, of being "intimidating" .

What will it take to convince someone like my table-mate this morning that we are no more difficult to use than the Borders book store at the mall up the street or Amazon.com – both of which I am sure she navigates with ease?  Once the fear factor is in place how do you overcome it?

It's a tall challenge!

Customer Service, Ritz Carlton Style

The Ritz Carlton has such a reputation for customer service that it offers management training to other organizations. Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend a ½ day version of this training at pre-workshop for the California Library Association annual conference. Even that brief session gave some great insight into the organizational discipline required to provide the highest possible level of what they call "customer engagement". The whole focus is on meeting customer desire for:

• One-of-a-kind experiences
• Fast access to knowledge and wisdom (make me feel smart!)
• Convenience and respect for their time
• Utility and TOTAL lack of hassles
• "WOW" stories that they can tell their friends (e.g. the trainer's stories about how staff help set the stage for marriage proposals)

It would be a VERY long post if I included everything I learned, but a few things really leaped out:

1. The process starts with hiring people who have the right behaviors and attitudes. Their initial employee interview is conducted by telephone to save everyone time, and is focused on hiring people who will fit the culture. The interview is conducted by someone from outside the hiring department to ensure the focus is on culture, not skills. Using a carefully designed, standardized set of questions candidates are rated on things like work ethic, self-esteem, persuasion skills, team-orientation, empathy, and positivity. They are only interviewed in person by the hiring manager if they pass this initial telephone interview.
2. Every employee goes through a mandatory, two day orientation before they spend ANY time on the job. The goal is to immerse them in the Ritz Carlton culture as well as do initial training in core skills and address "housekeeping" issues like timekeeping, paydays, parking, uniforms etc. There is a big focus on expectations – what the company expects of employees and what the employee can expect of the company.
3. Every employee signs an agreement clearly stating expectations – both general cultural expectations and department/job specific expectations. This is signed by both the employee and the manager.
4. Every new employee is teamed up with another employee who has demonstrated a high level of performance and acts as a mentor and coach. There is an "operational certification" that the employee can do the job after 21 days of employment, and a 60 day probationary period. Employees who choose to leave during probation are eligible for re-hire.
5. There are very clear and specific performance standards. For example, no employee is allowed to point to give directions. All are required to take the customer to where they need to go. There are also very specific rules for how to answer the phone (must answer within three rings, must introduce yourself, must use the customer name, etc.). Each employee is required to carry a small fold-out card with key concepts such as the Ritz Carlton credo, motto, and service goals at all times. There is a strict appearance policy. There are random audits and failure to perform to any of the standards results in disciplinary action. Employees are also required to use the same standards when dealing with colleagues as with external customers.
6. Each hourly employee participates in 250 hours of learning each year, it goes up to 320 hours for salaried employees. Much of the training is self-directed through workbooks or online courses..
7. There is a huge emphasis on feedback and a culture of seeking feedback at every opportunity. Gallup contacts 300-400 guests per hotel per month and surveys at least 33 of them. The survey includes questions such as "Would you return"? "Would you recommend this hotel to your friends?". They also poll employees. Results of the various surveys are input into the performance management and reward and recognition systems. All salaried employees also participate in a quarterly performance review which is based on a self-assessment that is reviewed by the manager.
   Hourly employees are reviewed six-monthly. As the trainer said "Keeping score is important".
8. There is also a huge emphasis on communication. Each hotel has a "Daily Lineup" All employees gather in a circle for 10-15 minutes. They get news of what is going on at that hotel that day, information and status reports on company-wide activities such as the opening of a new hotel, discuss quality and service topics, and recognize birthdays and service anniversaries. Employees who attend are held accountable for passing the information down to later shifts. There is also a weekly newsletter that is emailed to all employees, and they also use podcasts.

There was much more…but this gives some sense of the level to which PVLD needs to improve its processes if we are to come close to delivering the Ritz Carlton level service our community expects.

Amazing Customer Service

Read this – http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/2007/08/how-to-create-a.html and then ask yourself -

What would happen if every employee took personal responsibility for making sure every library user they come into contact with has an amazingly positive experience of the library? What if we treated every person who enters the library as if it was their first library experience? What can we learn from Captain Denny Flanagan?

Great service pays off!

After ending last week with the sad news about the State budget, I thought I'd start this week with a pat on the back for the PVLD staff.

Executive Assistant Merna Marshall devoted quite a bit of time helping a customer who had spent nearly half an hour completing the long version of our online customer survey, only to "lose" it at the very end.  Merna was not only able to verify that the survey data had not been lost, she was also able to direct the customer to our online Inter-Library Loan service and put into action the customer's recommendation that we provide better descriptive information about the service.

Merna's efforts were rewarded by this email from the customer -

"Thank you so much for following up on my survey and for telling me about WorldCat and interlibrary loan.

Palos Verdes Library District is the best library that I have ever used!

You can quote me on that!"

Kudos to Merna, and to all of the employees who help make PVLD great!