Cerritos: How to create an experience library without building a new building
Hi all,
Here are my notes from the Cerritos presentation at KLA. Most of these are totally unrelated to the super cool interactive building--most have to do with staff, design, and thinking about what would be beneficial to patrons....
Cheers,
Erica
Ten easy ways to create an experience library for less than a cup of mocha latte
Libraries can enhance their users’ experience by…
1. Being on stage.
When you’re working with public, you’re on stage. Eliminate any “emotional leakage.”
2. Conducting daily briefings.
Be sure all staff know what is happening in the library and when.
3. Creating guerilla displays.
Model information discovery by creating quick, timely, ephemeral displays.
4. Doing spontaneous programming.
Have programs planned and ready to be presented at a moments notice when you see a teaching moment. Examples: the doctor is in…Dr. Database—when they have off-desk time, staff at Cerritos put on a lab coat and mill about the computers, ready to help and teach patrons about using databases; when you see kids, tell them jokes; have birthday parties at the library
5. Getting up and moving around.
Re-evaluate everything: nothing is too small to look at and to be looked at again. Small details = pleasure
6. Greeting visitors.
It’s not enough to have friendly people up front—be able to guide patrons across/throughout the library.
7. Knowing and telling your library story.
I love this one—we should all know how the library as a whole was created and be ready to share details about the histories of our buildings and about personal connections to the library.
8. Looking at everything from the customer’s point of view.
Look at everything with new eyes. Does it make sense? Is it easy to use? What would a first time patron think? How does the library look from the perspective of an occasional patron, or an every-day patron? Take responsibility for your environment: don’t assume someone else will/has.
9. Providing staff name badges.
10. Saying “Thank you!”
Thank your patrons for being there and asking questions.
Lessons learned at Cerritos:
Appeal to all the senses: ensure the environment includes pleasing sights, sounds, tastes, etc…Ex: flower arrangements: think about the details
Appoint an arbiter of taste: again, it’s the details, but the right details
Find ways to say “yes.”
Engage your customers: Be with them and around them. Have your spontaneous programming ready to go whenever you notice a teachable moment.
Let line staff make decisions
Find a mantra
Have fun (with patrons, too)
Be brave: Don’t be scared to try new services, new ideas: Incubate new services, ideas. If they don’t work, no big deal. But don’t be cowardly.
Have buy-in from your staff:
Their staff training included Wow! Training for customer services
Treat each other as customers
Do 10 minute refresher courses with staff
Respect all ideas. Always encourage staff to think, “will it make own patrons’ experience better?”
Be sure the staff areas create good experiences, too. Ask staff: what would make your life easier? And then give it to them. Have them list the tech things they need, where they’d like their desks to go, let them design their own workplace
Get staff excited about what they’re doing
Staff need to be involved (daily briefings, bullet points for 15 minutes)
Arcane knowledge is bad customer service—if only one person at the library knows the answer, that’s bad news. Share knowledge throughout the organization.
Use incubator projects for testing: allow people to fail without recrimination. It’s not failure—think about what you learned and go back to your previous success point.
Experiences are transforming: Think (and act like) “I’ve worked my entire life for you to come through my door today.”
What Cerritos wants patrons to think: 1st: Wow, what a great staff. 2nd And don’t they have a great building.
Here are my notes from the Cerritos presentation at KLA. Most of these are totally unrelated to the super cool interactive building--most have to do with staff, design, and thinking about what would be beneficial to patrons....
Cheers,
Erica
Ten easy ways to create an experience library for less than a cup of mocha latte
Libraries can enhance their users’ experience by…
1. Being on stage.
When you’re working with public, you’re on stage. Eliminate any “emotional leakage.”
2. Conducting daily briefings.
Be sure all staff know what is happening in the library and when.
3. Creating guerilla displays.
Model information discovery by creating quick, timely, ephemeral displays.
4. Doing spontaneous programming.
Have programs planned and ready to be presented at a moments notice when you see a teaching moment. Examples: the doctor is in…Dr. Database—when they have off-desk time, staff at Cerritos put on a lab coat and mill about the computers, ready to help and teach patrons about using databases; when you see kids, tell them jokes; have birthday parties at the library
5. Getting up and moving around.
Re-evaluate everything: nothing is too small to look at and to be looked at again. Small details = pleasure
6. Greeting visitors.
It’s not enough to have friendly people up front—be able to guide patrons across/throughout the library.
7. Knowing and telling your library story.
I love this one—we should all know how the library as a whole was created and be ready to share details about the histories of our buildings and about personal connections to the library.
8. Looking at everything from the customer’s point of view.
Look at everything with new eyes. Does it make sense? Is it easy to use? What would a first time patron think? How does the library look from the perspective of an occasional patron, or an every-day patron? Take responsibility for your environment: don’t assume someone else will/has.
9. Providing staff name badges.
10. Saying “Thank you!”
Thank your patrons for being there and asking questions.
Lessons learned at Cerritos:
Appeal to all the senses: ensure the environment includes pleasing sights, sounds, tastes, etc…Ex: flower arrangements: think about the details
Appoint an arbiter of taste: again, it’s the details, but the right details
Find ways to say “yes.”
Engage your customers: Be with them and around them. Have your spontaneous programming ready to go whenever you notice a teachable moment.
Let line staff make decisions
Find a mantra
Have fun (with patrons, too)
Be brave: Don’t be scared to try new services, new ideas: Incubate new services, ideas. If they don’t work, no big deal. But don’t be cowardly.
Have buy-in from your staff:
Their staff training included Wow! Training for customer services
Treat each other as customers
Do 10 minute refresher courses with staff
Respect all ideas. Always encourage staff to think, “will it make own patrons’ experience better?”
Be sure the staff areas create good experiences, too. Ask staff: what would make your life easier? And then give it to them. Have them list the tech things they need, where they’d like their desks to go, let them design their own workplace
Get staff excited about what they’re doing
Staff need to be involved (daily briefings, bullet points for 15 minutes)
Arcane knowledge is bad customer service—if only one person at the library knows the answer, that’s bad news. Share knowledge throughout the organization.
Use incubator projects for testing: allow people to fail without recrimination. It’s not failure—think about what you learned and go back to your previous success point.
Experiences are transforming: Think (and act like) “I’ve worked my entire life for you to come through my door today.”
What Cerritos wants patrons to think: 1st: Wow, what a great staff. 2nd And don’t they have a great building.
posted by Erica at
5:30 PM
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