"An absolute gem of an idea from Brian Herzog: Work Like a Patron Day
That’s why I’m proposing “Work Like A Patron Day” on October 15th. In honor of the day, I think library staff should (when possible):
- enter and leave the library through the public entrance (not the staff doors)
- use the public restrooms
- use the public computers to do your work
- reserve public meeting rooms for meetings
- follow all library policies
This would be an amazing way to assess what works in your library and what’s unusable. To his list I’ll add:
- sit in the chairs/use the furniture meant for the public
- use only the patron interface for searching your catalog
- pay your library fines (no waiving them the day before!)
- use a database you’ve never used before
If this seems like it would be a challenge, you really ought to think about why you’re continually challenging your patrons. If it seems easy, congrats, you just might have an easy to use library!"
(emphasis mine)
GREAT idea. And no one should be exempt. Maybe we should expand it into a staff inservice day (or days). The hardest part would be coming at the task without our "expertise" and without the blinders we probably don't know we're wearing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess one problem is that we don't have enough patron computers for all staff to use at once. I think the total, all departments, is about 25 internet stations, right?
ReplyDelete