On the Nature of Library Service

July 22nd, 2005 Stewart Posted in Uncategorized |

Most mornings as my wife and I are getting ready for work, both of us having worked in higher education for many years, we will find ourselves talking about the university as a workplace. This morning, it led me to crystalize some thoughts that I have regarding service in higher ed, and I thought I’d post them to my blog before they pour out of my brain onto the floor and are lost forever.

As a hypothetical, say that the university president came to the library to check out a copy of his latest book. The circulation clerk looks up the record and says, “Sorry, but that’s already checked out to someone, due back in two weeks.” The president is curious, asking, “Really? Who checked it out?”

The clerk can respond one of two ways:

1. “I’m sorry sir, but we aren’t allowed to give out that information. I’d be happy to place a recall and hold on the book for you so you can have it as soon as it is returned.”

2. “Actually, your secretary checked that out last week.”

Of these two responses, which do you think is better service? Many faculty and university administrators might say #2, which would of course be better for them as patrons. The president, for example, now knows who has the book, and would have easy access to it through the secretary.

But while answer #2 has the illusion of better service, it really isn’t. Maybe the secretary checked it out on her boss’s behalf and is already planning on giving it to him. Maybe the secretary is new, and wants to better understand her new boss and his scholarly interests. Maybe she’s planning on burning it in effigy. Her motivations are her own, and they should remain such. The secretary’s possession of the book, whatever the reason, is her own business.

Answer #1, as professional librarians have known for years, is the only responsible way to deal with this situation. We protect our patrons’ information, because who checked out what is really no one’s business but their own. I would also argue that answer #1 is indicative of better service overall. While it may not serve the president best for the clerk to withhold that information, it does in fact serve the university community best for library records to be confidential and for library users to be assured of their right to privacy.

As universities continue to adopt more business-like practices, the idea of “The customer is always right” has begun to trickle down into various support service points, including libraries, IT support, human resources, and elsewhere. Frankly, many businesses long ago realized that the customer was not always right, and adopted their practices accordingly, but university administrators are often working from outdated concepts of business management anyway.

Oftentimes, pressure is exerted on rank-and-file members of university services to alter their services to better suit the individual than the institution, to make exceptions based on the academic rank of the customer. Certainly, a circulation clerk faced with the university president could not help but feel this kind of pressure.

One of the most important roles for mid-level administrators and directors in university services must be the creation of responsible policies and procedures to assure that this kind of pressure does not negatively impact the provision of service to the greater university community. People who work in university services, like libraries, must know that when they follow the rules and do their work with due dilligence, they will not risk reprimand or censure of any kind.