Saturday, March 20, 2010

Secret Shopper

On my way back from a conference in Chicago I stopped at a small public library in northwest Indiana. The reference desk was towards the front of the building across from the circulation desk and seemed to get a lot of traffic. The librarian was seated behind the desk and appeared to be in her mid to late 50's and reminded me of what people usually think of when they think librarian. She was helping a patron and another waited in line for her assistance.

I looked around the library and waited a few minutes until she was free. I approached the desk and she made eye contact with me and asked if she could help me. I explained to her that I was looking for a good book to read and that I was a little intimidated by the amount of authors and books and I needed a little guidance to find something that I might enjoy.

After explaining to her I needed help finding a good book, she said "Let's see what we can do" and asked what types of books I had enjoyed in the past. I told her that I had been mostly a non-fiction reader but I had just started reading fiction and I would like another fiction book to read. She asked what types of books I had enjoyed in the past again and I told her that I had just finished Marine One by James Huston and I really liked it but I wasn't sure about his other books.

After telling her I enjoyed Marine One she said she wasn't really familiar with that author and started looking in their catalog for him. She asked what I liked about the book and I told her it was a political thriller and I liked the political aspects of the book. She told me the other books the library had by the Huston and I said that I would like to try a different author.

Once I told her that I wanted to try a different author she continued to work in their catalog and did not find the information that she wanted. She then pulled a book out from behind the desk and started looking through a book. I couldn't tell what book it was so I asked what she was looking at and she said a book of genres and authors. She didn't find what she was looking for in the book so we went out to the stacks and she started to point out some authors that she knew of that she thought I might enjoy.

We walked into the stacks and she said that she thought of two authors that might work for political thrillers. As we were walking she said that her favorite genre was fantasy and she wasn't very familiar with the type of book that I was looking for but she said a lot of the books she had seen were military or military/political but we would probably be able to look at the titles and covers and get a good idea of the book.

She took me to books by Vince Flynn and we looked at a few of the books. She then took me to books by Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts. She said that would give me a good start and to come and see her at the desk if I needed anything else. I told her I would start looking and I thanked her for her help.

Overall, I was pleased with the session. I had read and heard of a few other secret shopper experiences that were pretty bad. She spent about 10 minutes of her time helping me. She also seemed more than happy to help me and she didn't just sit behind the desk. She got up and took me into the stacks and pointed out some authors that might fit what I was looking for. She also told me to let her know if I had other questions or needed additional help and that made me feel more comfortable approaching her again if I had other questions.

3 comments:

  1. Dave, even though she perhaps didn't lead you to The Ultimate Book for You, she took some time to try and help and made herself available. I think this is often all that patrons want, so why don't more librarians do this?

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  2. I'm not sure why not. I was happy with the service I received. I really didn't know what to expect when I walked in.

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  3. I am too am happy with your service - yet I want more and better! We do not care what she likes to read - good for her - go enjoy a fantasy novel or write about how much you love fantasy on your book blog - but this RA transaction was to be about Dave. Also, I really would have like to have seen a bit more use of resources designed to aid the RA interview. And some instruction. Give you a few paths to explore the exciting world of fiction.

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