Sutherland Shire Libraries Staff News

Click here for an interesting article on library book sales overseas. Apparently, book resellers are going to library book sales armed with scanners trying to find 'hidden treasures'.

A reseller described how the scanning worked. He pays US$40 a month for an up-to-date list of book resale values which he then stores on a handheld computer he bought for US$200. He attaches a bar-code scanner, which also cost about US$200, to his computer to read the book bar codes, and the book's value is then displayed on his hand-held.

One library has bought its own scanner to find the more valuable books and price them accordingly.

I don't think our book sale buyers have reached this level of sophistication yet, but we certainly get some resellers doing a bit of fossicking.

Barbara

Geraldine has arranged for copies of Sutherland Shire: a history / Paul Ashton, Jennifer Cornwall, Annette Salt to be sold from the Information Desk at Sutherland Library.
A few copies are in the cupboard at the back of the Information Desk.
There are 40 boxes in storage downstairs.
Display copies will be on the top shelf of the pyramid, and next to the Black Dog books at the Information Desk. Priced at $39.95.

Dianne Ollerenshaw
Interlibrary Loans, Sutherland Shire Libraries trading under Sutherland Shire Council.
ph 61 2 9710 0454, fax  61 2 9710 0236,
email dollerenshaw@ssc.nsw.gov.au
http://library.sutherland.nsw.gov.au

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Not too long ago I was working on the Circulation Desk at Sutherland when a Patron came in to collect holds for his wife. I showed him the holds shelf, explained the self-checkouts and asked him if he had his card. He proceeded to tell me he used to just pick books up from the shelf and walk out with them and that no one would come to the Library anymore. He even went so far as to call his wife and complain that I was making him 'follow rules'.  His parting words to me were 'Picking up books is Women's work'.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

I don't think I've met anyone working in a customer service environment that hasn't had difficulty with some people they have served. We discussed strategies for handling difficult situations in Sparkle.  We covered a technique called P.A.U.S.E.. This stands for:

Pause. The name says it all. When someone is being rude or temperamental the natural instinct (for those who are yet to find inner peace) is to take on a 'Fight or Flight' reaction. Sometimes it's just effective to pause and regather composure. This way your mind is clearer and it's easier to respond to the situation. It also gives the customer an opportunity to vent their emotions. Sometimes they just need an outlet for their frustration - whether it means taking up kickboxing or abusing customer service workers.

Acknowledge that you understand their point of view by using words ('I understand', 'I see' etc), tone of voice and body language. This way the customer will know you are listening to them and are concerned about their problem (don't forget to actually listen as well; this is no time to start thinking about what you're having for dinner).

Understand. Try to find out the facts and details of the problem by asking both open and closed questions. This will better equip you to find solutions and may allow the customer to put the problem in perspective.

Summarise and Suggestions: Summarise your understanding of the issues so that you and the customer are on the same page. Then offer suggestions, solutions and options to help remedy the problem. The customer may then feel they are contributing to the solution by discussing the options. Of course there is rarely a solution that will fix all problems (particularly when it comes to fines and overdues) but there may be things that will alleviate the pain.

Else. Ask if there is anything else you can help them with. This is very important as it will ensure that all the customers' questions/problems have been answered and will indicate that the customer is welcome to voice their concerns or ask questions in the future (ok, I understand that there are just some customers you're really hoping to never see again, however I guess that's the joy of customer service)!

Earlier in the year, I attended 'Handling Difficult People' training along with some staff that also went to Sparkle. Here we were told that you should never apologise in these situations. This is in direct contrast to what we were told at Sparkle i.e. it's ok to apologise sometimes. I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on the issue, mainly because I am thoroughly confused! Please help me by commenting below.

One rather different aspect to 'handling difficult people' that was also covered in Sparkle was handling your internal emotions in this situation. While I haven't seen any staff member start yelling back at Patrons and throwing temper tantrums, if you're human (and I'd be concerned if you weren't) then I'm sure like me, you can still be affected by the behaviour of difficult people. While I think we're all good at staying calm on the outside, on the inside I know that at times I'm thinking things that would deeply shock one of my Grandmothers (the other one's not very innocent).

It is important to maintain a resourceful state of mind in these situations. We brainstormed thoughts that would help us do this. These included 'It's not personal', 'This person is probably having other problems in their life' and 'I don't get paid enough to let this get to me' (it sounds terrible yet it is surprisingly effective). I'm interested to find out what other tactics people use to keep calm in these situations. Please post your ideas below.

I know I said in the last article I was going to talk about both 'Handling Difficult People' and 'Customer Service' in this article. It turns out I'm a liar and you'll never be able to trust me again! I think I've written far too much already so this means there will be a 'Sparkle Part 3' (which I'm sure you're all thrilled about). So for now, post your strategies for Handling Difficult People and wait in eager anticipation for the next instalment.

Karen B.

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Important: This email / fax and any files transmitted with it are confidential

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Planning a display at your library?
Posters can be ordered from Reconciliation Australia.
This years theme is See the person, not the stereotype.

If you do order any posters please request they be marked for your attention.
(Bev deals with a lot of unrequested publicity and is good at recycling.)

Dianne