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This article presents a 2-year study on how quickly Texas library staff members greeted a library patron after eye contact. Results from 140 library visits found a mean of nearly 4 min, but a mean of 9 s after removing outliers. The study also calculated the perceived customer value by measuring the service, quality, image, and price of the customer service experience. Findings suggest that each patron/staff interaction may alter a patron's perceived Return on Investment (ROI). Given libraries are primarily supported by tax dollars, poor patron service experiences may impact the perceived values of library programs and services, jeopardizing future funding. The article highlights the importance for libraries to retain satisfied employees and build trust within their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise in numbers of people experiencing homelessness in our cities, towns and regions, public libraries are seeing an increase in visits from members of this community. Public library staff are increasingly required to assist and work with people experiencing homelessness, often with little training and without the guidance of policy documents to advise them. This article reports on a survey of Australian public library staff who were asked about their experiences in, and attitudes toward working with this community. The article finds public library staff are frequently working with people experiencing homelessness. Although library staff largely believe working with this community is part of their role, they also report feeling unsafe at work, and a belief that the presence of people experiencing homelessness in libraries can be detrimental to other library users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a community hub, libraries and their patrons were impacted by the social distancing, closures, and health-related restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored one library system's changing needs during the pandemic, both from the patrons' point of view as well as from the perspective of library staff. A number of themes are identified, which can assist library administrators with adjusting to the needs of their constituents post-pandemic and inform future resource planning in library systems. Implications and limitations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project aimed to cultivate library patrons' interest in earth and space science, using research on how situations can trigger and support interest to deepen across time. The project featured a dynamic but low-tech library display that showcased thematic content to help patrons realize and develop their interest in earth and space science topics. Patrons engaged with and returned regularly to the display, which predicted their participation in additional activities outside of viewing the display, indicating deepening interest. This approach uses a passive program to help libraries build patrons' interest in accessing science resources and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steven Bell's "Academic Librarians' C-Word Problem" recommends that to improve customer service academic librarians like public librarians call their users "customers." This column argues that academic library users should not be called customers for a variety of reasons. Primarily, the goals of public and academic libraries differ. Public libraries seek to discover their users' wants and meet them. Academic libraries, in contrast, aim to teach and support their users' educational growth. Calling an academic library patron a customer implies that individual wants can take precedence over educational needs and that students should have influence over classroom instruction and curricular content. Steven Bell and I agree on the importance of customer service, but I believe that it is defined differently in public and academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many public libraries reply on forming partnerships with other institutions in their communities to expand and strengthen their educational public programing. The Land-Grant University Extension Service can be a natural partner for public libraries, as both organizations share the common goal of providing lifelong learning opportunities to the public. A year-long study based at the St. Martin Public Library in Jackson County, Mississippi shows the impact of programs led by Mississippi State University Extension faculty and staff on library activity at that branch, including new library card sign-ups, use of materials, and future program attendance and growth. From the results of surveys distributed, Extension-led educational programs appeared to have an overall positive impact on library activity at the St. Martin branch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between OCLC Online Computer Library Center and its member institutions worldwide is formalized in the Members Council. This body, representing OCLC's constituent networks and service centers, has a key role in helping the OCLC Board of Trustees and management determine the future direction of the cooperative. Its core responsibilities include electing six trustees to the fifteen-member Board, and approving or rejecting changes to OCLC's Articles of Incorporation and Code of Regulations, the corporation's founding documents. The Members Council also represents the interests of libraries to OCLC. While the Board, Council, and management do not agree on all issues, their relationships are characterized by extensive interaction and mutual respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the opportunities, challenges, and results of a vendor-library development project to create an ecommerce' tool as an integrated facet of Innovative's Web OPAC. Westerville Public Library was engaged with the software development process from the outset, communicating administrative, technical, and service issues and needs while also testing the product with its customers. The project culminated in early 2004 with the installation of Innovative's Ecommerce product and resulted in the collection of large payments online and an increase in total fine revenue collected. Most notably, the team found that Ecommerce gathered nearly a quarter of all fines collected in 2004, and almost one-third of fines collected in the first half of 2005. The participants reflect on the nature and history of the partnership, outcomes, best practices, and future plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships are key to the success of any library project, and relations with the vendor's staff are too often overlooked or viewed as adversarial. Focusing on automated system and online electronic resource vendors, different functional departments of the vendor's staff are examined with an eye toward the benefits that a good relationship can bring to support the project. The evolving database marketplace is reviewed, particularly in light of the multiple buying cooperatives many public libraries find available to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]