Thursday, April 14, 2016

Is Anyone Out There?



So imagine that you've been  assigned to interview library staff at a library you aren't familiar with.

As your next step you do what anyone else would do and go to the library's website for contact information to set up the interview.

But there is none.

There's an address, hours and directions, beautiful pictures and a super cool website. All you can find is the Call Center number.

So you dig deeper. You can find the Library Advisory Board member names. You can find their meeting minutes. You see no mention of any library staff there, not even the Director's name.

So you dig deeper. Deep into the bowels of the City's web page you find the library page, but again no names are listed and all the links take you back to the library's main page, which has already proved useless.

So you dig deeper. Now you're looking through public minutes of all committees on a giant list. You're looking at City Organizational charts and discover that while there is a box for Library Director, no name is listed. You even do a search on the City page for "Library Director" and all that comes up is a job description from HR.

This is no joke.

So while running errands one day, you are near another branch of this system and physically go in and ask about the lack of contact info and explain your class assignment. The staff is friendly and sympathetic. You query about calling the Call Center, but learn that staff is on desk at the same time as doing their Call Center hour, so that may not be a good idea. It is suggested you do Ask-A- Librarian.

So on March 29, 2016 you submit an Ask-A-Librarian question. You introduce yourself, the assignment and explain that you want to be respectful of staff privacy and safety by not cold-calling the branch.

On March 30, 2016 you get a reply that your information will be forwarded to the branch.

It's important to note that the branch is closed on your two main days off- Sunday and Monday.

Today is April 14, 2016. You still haven't heard a word from the branch. It's a day off for you.

Time for a cold call.

Stay tuned.


No comments:

Post a Comment