New Article: “Working With, Not For: Confronting the Us vs Them Mindset Between Information Services and Access Services in a Major Urban Library System”

The following full-text article appears in the new issue of Oregon Library Association Quarterly (OLAQ), Volume 20, Number 3 (2014).

Title

Working With, Not For: Confronting the Us vs Them mindset between Information Services and Access Services in a Major Urban Library System

Author

Angela Weyrens
Access Services Administrator, Central Library, Multnomah County Library

Source

Oregon Library Association Quarterly (OLAQ)
Volume 20, Number 3 (2014).
From the Article:

Public library work has changed so much in the past 20 years. Stable funding is no longer assumed. The pressure is always on to do more with less. The pervasiveness of the Internet and Google have changed the way patrons think of and use us. The work of IS [Information Service] has moved from that of gatekeeping experts to that of trusted guides and facilitators. The work of AS [Access Services] has become more inclusive of many direct customer interactions. Both work groups have moved to more lateral positions on the patron usage map. All of these things and more have helped us become more cooperative, more collaborative, more collegial, and even just more aware of each other.
Working better together in these ways will ensure that the only people we feel like we are working for are our patrons.

Direct to Full Text Article (6 pages; PDF)

Filed under: Funding, Libraries, New Issue, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries