Even at the end of my year-long volunteer tenure, there were many people I was unable to help from the front desk. Of those, roughly 50% asked straightforward questions and I simply did not have the specific knowledge to help them.
Adult Patron1: Do you have the latest book by [insert popular author name here]?
Me: Do you know the name of the book?
Adult Patron1: No, but I heard one just came out.
Me: We have five books by the author, is this (the most recent) the one you’re looking for?
Adult Patron1: I don’t know. Is it the one that just came out?Teen Patron: We have to do a book report on NASA.
Adult Patron2: I’m interested in geneology, how would I get started?
In these cases I would hail a staff member and reiterate the patron’s question, hopeful that a competent hand-off would help mitigate the delay in delivering the requested service.
A number of patrons approached the desk with an interest or need they could not clearly articulate. Initially I tried to ask clarifying questions and invariably wasted the patron’s time and my own. Soon enough I came to recognize these moments and would silently hail a staff member who would casually walk over and ask “How can I help you?” The staff was usually able to interpret the inquiry and direct the person to resources in just a few moments.
My sense is that fielding these questions was beyond the reach of a volunteer, for it was the staffs’ skill, training and experience—perhaps combined with a bit of special knowledge (awareness of school assignments, job openings in town, policies/events at surrounding libraries) that made them so good at providing this service.
