I had this idea, probably not original, but it might be of interest. The
germ of the idea is my company's software sales. Although the software is
expensive, we continually get customers to purchase a "designated support
engineer". This is a person who is responsible for having regular (weekly to
monthly) teleconferences with the customer to go over any outstanding issues,
and will visit the customer's site two or three times a year. They can also
manage issues personally through our company, and they end up also being the
first contact for interest in new software or capabilities. Companies will pay
us quite a lot per year for 1/4 time of a person in this role. Given
this concept, I wonder if the library could offer a "designated librarian", for
those that perhaps would be willing to pay.
I imagine the role as follows:
The designated librarian (DL) would be assigned to manage the interface between
this group and the library through in-depth personal service. This means that
the DL would be available during library hours, perhaps through a library
provided cell phone and email/twitter. The DL would take appointments to meet
with assigned constituents at the library, for library walk-thru, to get the
first library card or update them, to discuss research requests or information
searches, etc.
The DL would also spend time outside of the library, working with assigned
groups in their home. There, the DL would research what their constituents want,
specifically what authors/books/music/movies they would like to see more of in
the library, what data sources, what interests they have that could be met by
our events. We could provide a goal that a specific percentage of our puchases
would be targeted to these media, a number of events would be targeted to their
specific needs, etc. This woud also entail a personal delivery service, where
constituents call to request books or media and they are delivered to the house
at a set time. The DL would be computer literate to provide simple lessons on
using the library website and catalog. They would also configure systems to
enable downloadable audiobook/ebooks from the library. They would pick up book
donations for the Friends sale. The DL would be available for appointments, but
would also pro-actively set appointments to talk to people in their homes a
couple of times a year.
I also see the DL providing some direct help to constituents relating to
marketing and selling a house. If asked, I can see the library providing a
packet of information about the village of Lisle and the area for prospective
buyers. The DL could also be asked to work occasional open houses in conjunction with their realtor, to provide
prospective buyers with information about the library and the area. This appears
to fit in with our community part of the library's mission.
I see the DL providing research and legwork to, for instance, verify the
constituent has library access to partner libraries in other cities, where they
work or otherwise spend time. If they are interested in downloadable
books/audiobooks, the DL could also acquire library cards for other libraries
that share their collections of these, such as a local big-city library. They would also verify
access to other area libraries, such as college libraries.
If a set community were the subject of this type of service, such as a
subdivision, the DL could schedule meetings, like homeowners group meetings, at
the library. The subdivision might also be interested in starting their own
neighborhood reading group, and the DL could run the reading group at patrons
homes or in the library.
The constituents of the DL might need some level of research, for their work, or
for their personal life. This might include scholarly research or typical
internet-based reserach, such as finding a home value or used car availability.
It might also include ongoing education, including language training which we
can directly help with. The DL would be able to provide their expertise in
searching for the constituent, with the understanding that they are not the
expert in the field they are looking at.
I'm sure there are many other ideas that could come to play with the designated
librarian concept. I see this as being operated for newly annexed groups of
residences, sort of as a one year internal TIF - the service would be provided
for a year and paid for out of the new tax resources. After the first year, it would be a
separately chargable service. If need be, the service might end up needing to be
privatized if it won't work within the public structure of the library, but that
would come after testing feasibility.
I would think this kind of job would appeal to newly graduated library majors
interested in working with the public outside of the physical library.
I think this concept would provide delighted constituents, reduce demands on the
rest of the library staff, possibly open a new revenue stream, help us see
future constituent needs earlier, and provide a new kind of job within the
library that could be self-sustaining.
Do you think this concept, were we to offer it, would be of interest in our
current situation? And would it be viable coming from a governmental entity? (Probably, sort of like paying for quicker passports.)
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