Sorry, This One's Not Really Library Related

I have no idea why Doraemon is offering this well known phrase of customer service, but it was the best image I could think of to illustrate this blog. I want to talk (type?) for a little bit about what motivates people to do their jobs. That's not really it though... I want to talk about what should motivate people to do their jobs well.

I was at a team building class a few days ago, mainly because I got paid for it, but also to learn a little bit more about effective management. During the class, a member of the group regales us with an anecdote about how he gave great customer service to someone who, unknown to him, was in a position of great influence. Long story short, the moral was: "Always give good customer service, because you never know who you might be serving." I think this is a horrible way to think and a horrible thing to teach people.

You should always provide the best customer service, that is true. My argument is that FEAR should not be the motivator. This is the idea behind secret shoppers. I have no problem with the library using secret shoppers to gague the true level of customer service, but I do have a problem when they tell us to always give great service because it could be the secret shopper. I don't care if it's the mayor, assistant city manager, director, or resident of the local shelter; I give the same level of service to everyone. I don't do it because I'm afraid word might get back to my boss that I did a subpar job. I do it because it's my job, and I take pride in my work.

I am finding, more and more, as I meet more people that this seems to be an uncommon driving force. It is true that I wouldn't do what I do if they didn't pay me, but since they do I think they're entitled to the best I have to give. I couldn't live with myself if I end the day knowing that I left something on the table... well I could live with myself, I just couldn't sleep well. My question is, where are the others like me?

I know some, I'm friends with them. I work with some of them. I live next door to one. Are the others missing a gene, or lacking that elective class that we all took in highschool called "Work Ethic: How to be Considered Employable by Spencer." Perhaps this is what we need. Education on the importance of work ethic. I've been considering writing a book lately for managers with hiring duties on how to spot employees that have it... that one's still kicking around in the old noodle. Seriously though, think about how different things would be if we found a way to identify people with such work ethic and weed the others out of the workplace... or better yet, instill this value in everyone before they get into the workforce!

It makes me wonder what those people that just don't seem to care tell themselves at night... or if they think about it at all. Now, I've had crappy jobs. I used to make bathtubs for trailer houses, I waited tables, I bussed tables, I made fried chicken for PopEyes, I've sifted through garbage to find accidentally discarded forks... anyway, my point is, I didn't want to be there most of the time, but I made a deal with them that my time was their's in exchange for a predetermined amount of money and a few stipulations. Once the deal was struck, nothing made me stay with it. I had no contract. I just lived up to my word.

I know I'm not really special in this respect, and I didn't mean to imply so. I could have used other people as examples; it's just that I'm most familiar with myself. I'm just wanting to offer this advice to those out there who wonder why they don't get ahead, or pay raises, or praise, or anything. Regardless of how well you think you do your job, look at what motivates you to do it. Do you work out of fear of being fired, or fear of anything really? Or do you do it well because of pride and work ethic? I'm going to bet, if you look at it honestly, you probably do it out of fear. If not, you have a horrible boss and should quit right after you get another job lined up.

Sorry that this wasn't about the library. It's just my two cents this time.

Two Types of Librarians (Of Which I Have NEVER Met Either)

In an effort to fully flesh out the classification of the different human elements found in public library service, I have decided to define types as I identify them, leaving the complications associated with establishing an in depth system to the side for a moment.

I decided to start with two types of librarians, which I am lucky enough to only have witnessed at other libraries and never had to work with...

The first group are known (by me) as the SQUATTERS. They want to stay where they are and not change a thing. They have spent years of their hardest work (?) to prepare procedures and a corporate culture that ensures no change is possible. They only thing that will dislodge them is time combined with a concerted effort by their successors. The squatters were not always this way, however. They used to desire to change, to do things their way. At some point, they realized that this isn't all it's cracked up to be, and they found, magically, that the spot they were in at that moment was perfect. They then spend their careers trying to keep it that way. They kill innovation via the informal filibuster. They also know every detail of every policy, either because they wrote it or they don't like it. Ironically, their e-mails can often be identified by extremely ornate backgrounds, fonts, theme music, and other HTML goodies.

Go figure.

The other type to define today are the

IDEALISTS. These folks are either fresh out of library school, or have recently been reintroduced to the public sector. They expect a library to function smoothly, with rational thought at the reason for rules and policy. They are still blind to the reality of their positions as babysitters and movie finders. They are still waiting for the opportunity to enlighten the masses. They wait so long that helping some high school kid do his homework by showing him how an index works actually passes as a victory.

Librarians can remain idealists forever. They can also, after years of fruitless struggle, morph into a squatter. A third option is that they ride the belief that they can make a difference all the way into a management position. This is how they become the nemesis of the squatter. Once in management, they find that they are too busy listening to the complaints of squatters and the ideas of the new idealists to get anything done other than scheduling.

The other option for idealists? Complete burnout and profession change.

They can be identified by the tired smile on their faces and the frustrated tone of their e-mails.

As a librarian, granted a pretty inexperienced one, I have discovered quite a few things about an entrenched bureaucracy recently. More on that later... I think we need a little background info first.

I graduated with my MIS in December of 2006. Since that time (and a little before) I have been working in a large public library system as someone near the bottom of the totem pole in my caste. For those of you who are unaware, the library professions are separated into 5 very segregated classes. While each class definitely has subgroups (which I am currently working on classifying fully)they are so segregated that I shall, from now on, refer to them strictly as castes. They are listed in order of salary, greatest to least.

(the descriptions below are solely stereotypical, and should be treated however you desire)

The top level caste is known as administration. Perhaps they were librarians once, but they are no longer. Not that this is a bad thing. The function of this caste is to herd the other castes toward the goal, or mission, of the library. There are many other, dirty, nasty, sweaty responsibilities too, but since I don't understand almost anything that they do, we shall just leave it with the generalization that they run the library.

Next are the librarians. Members of this caste vary widely in age and responsibility, but share certain characteristics. You can often find them in meetings. They can find you what you need if they want to. This is not to say that members of the other castes are unable to do this, but more along the lines that this is what this caste does. There is also programming, reader advisory, babysitting, etc.; but, mainly these are the information seekers and disseminators. It should be mentioned that, as we speak, this caste is involved in a civil war of sorts. The future of this group hangs in the balance. On one side sits that "old guard" who might not actually want to help you anymore. The information you want to find might exist in a medium that was invented long after they stopped keeping themselves up to date with current trends. They have, rightfully so(?), earned their pensions and want to be left alone (or talk about books with their chronological peers). Pacing up and down the other side of the divide are members of the "cult of technology". These librarians want to overhaul everything so that patrons (that's what libraries call customers and the homeless) can get at everything they need to know without getting out from in front of the public access computer screen. They are the Gods of the Diest's library. They hope to set things in motion, tweaking once in a while, and watch the beauty of library life as it unfolds. "The more the patrons can do for themselves," this group says, "the more time we can spend doing important things." These important things seem to include figuring out other ways for patrons to help themselves. Of course, most librarians fall in between of these two sides, but what group isn't defined by it's extremes?

The third caste is made up of Clerks. Clerks check out your materials, take your fines, complain at you for leaving disc 2 of that platinum special edition DVD in your player when you returned it on time. They are also the ones that, probably, answer the phones when you call, and relate your situations to management. This group can hold a lot of power, and they're not afraid to use it. They, generally, do not help you find something, unless you just returned it, or you never really returned it at all and you're trying to fool them. They don't like things to change, and can often be found explaining how past procedures are better than current ones.

The 4th caste's members are known as paiges. They do not page people. They do shelve books. They shelve the heck out of books. Good paiges make clean, nice and easily navigable libraries. Bad paiges make libraries where nothing can be found, and is often still in the back. They require no special training, education, or experience. I would like to call them the unsung heroes of the library world, but too many of them would be too quick to point this fact out themselves. Smaller library systems do without this caste, adding their duties to those of the clerks, or subsisting with work performed by the next, and final, caste.

Finally, there are the volunteers. There are two main types, both of which should be on the endangered species list. The first type is court ordered. These are people who have to perform some sort of community service, and would rather work indoors at the library than scraping gum off of toilet stalls at the rec, center. The second type are far more uncommon, much more rare than anything you can order at your favorite steakhouse. These are the volunteers who are actually volunteering their time, not giving it in exchange for something else. Volunteers can be amazing or horrible. They can save you money, or waste your time, do the things no one else will, or do nothing much at all. They are the great gamble in the library, or they would be if they cost anything.

This is the underlying nature of the society of public libraries. The constant push and pull between these groups, caused somewhat by the extreme, nearly impenetrable, caste system, has led to the state of public libraries today. I'm sure I'm missing whole groups of people who will feel extremely left out and offended by the fact that I don't realize that the library wouldn't function without them.

Soon I will enlighten you on the way that libraries actually work (or rather how the interactions between these caste members and the public allow the library to float along with no end in sight.)

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