LibrariansAreAwesome

This is a question for all the librarian's out there: which of you work Reference and have absolutely no abilities in circ: can not check out a book, place a hold, renew an item, fix a record, or even use the staff side of the catalog at all. Not even searching for an item or placing holds. Public side of the catalog only!

Its been this way in my library FOREVER and with our new circ system going live next week I am trying to get this changed.

LibrarianRyan My boss is worried that if Reference can do anything circ related as we loose circ staff they wont be replaced because reference can do it. But history shows its the ref staff that don't get replaced because we cost more.

I guess i'm annoyed because shes training the new reference staff member to do the MAIL ROOM (5 union position levels lower) but argues that we can have no circ privileges.

Pardon me for being gripy.

#LibrariansAreAwesome 4y

runswithscissors007 I dream of being a librarian .... 4y

LibrarianRyan @runswithscissors007 one day maybe? it would be easier if it didn't require an advanced degree to make a decent pay, but then again those type of positions are going away. 4y

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Librarybelle We made the decision years ago to combine reference and circ and call it Public Services, which I oversee. All of our satellite branches are that small that all services, including kids, are completed at one desk. It was a challenge to get reference staff and circ staff to have the same skill sets. 4y

LibrarianRyan @Librarybelle most publics around here do not have set reference staff because most don't do real reference anymore. It's all RA. So it's done with mostly partimers. The Minimum wage jump is making this even more prevelant than it already was. 4y

runswithscissors007 I could read about this all day long..... 4y

rockpools Slightly stunned on your behalf (I‘m an ex information librarian, which is kind of like ref). How do you check records, see what might have happened to that pesky missing book (returned at the wrong branch?), reserve useful things for unhappy customers etc? I get having different permissions, so circ deal with fines, ILLs, anything needing ‘strict procedures‘, but it sounds like this‘d just makes it harder to provide good customer service. 😕 4y

swynn I am a technical services librarian and am not allowed to check out books. Funny thing is, when the ILS acts up and circ doesn't work, I'm the guy they call to fix it. 😊 (I mock the policy but actually agree with it. If I were to have circ desk duty I'd want more training on local policies and common customer service issues, which it's true are outside my experience.) 4y

LaraS Ex-ref librarian here...um, what? That sounds bonkers to me. Ref & circ permissions were almost identical (both ways). Crosstrained staff is WAY better so others can help in a pinch. Permission are largely overrated. In the unlikely event that someone in ref has a nefarious plot to....check out a million items under incorrect patrons?...it‘s all tracked in the computer so you can take it up with said employee. Why hire ppl if you don‘t trust them. 4y

LaraS As for your bosses concern, that doesn‘t hold water either. Let‘s play that out. Let‘s say you lose circ staff, and sr. mgmt drags their heels and doesn‘t replace them, saying “get ref staff to do it.” Then you push back and say “we can‘t, ref staff doesn‘t have permissions.” Do you think sr mgmt gonna be like “OH! My bad. No way around that. I‘ll get right on that hiring!” 🙄 Ugh. I feel frustrated on you behalf! 😕 4y

thegreentealibrarian I started out at circ and worked all those positions first. Then I did the bridging position between circ and ref. Now I'm a reference librarian. But in our system we do all of it. For us: we add responsibilities as we move up the chain. 😊 4y

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jbhops

The Other Einstein: A Novel | Marie Benedict

"Your custom book list is ready."

Yesterday I went to the library to pay my fines and ended up filling out a custom book list form. This morning my selection was ready. I'm starting with The Other Einstein because, according to the librarian, it was chosen because I enjoy strong female characters, historical fiction and The Alice Network. #librariansareawesome

vivastory Home going is brilliant & I have Keeper of Lost Causes on my TBR 7y

Sills You will not be disappointed- absolutely devoured this book❤️ The Other Einstein (edited) 6y

jbhops @Sills I gobbled it up. 😊 it was fantastic. 6y

26 likes3 comments

carys14

A Court of Mist and Fury | Sarah J. Maas

Check this out!!!

Oh wait! I checked it out first! Everyone else, the waitlist is over there!!!

#whenlibrarypurchaserequestsgoright
#librariansareawesome
#itneverhurtstoask
#mynameisthefirstoneonthevirtualdateduecard

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annahenke

Gone-Away Lake | Elizabeth Enright

#funfridayphoto #librariansareawesome Here are two of my childhood favorites! In 6th grade, our public school librarian got me a special notebook to use as a book journal. Gone Away Lake was a book she recommended that I absolutely loved. I wrote my very first review about it. ☺️ And Sharon Creech is just solid.

Liberty

Purpleness I loved both of those too! Bloomability is the closest I've ever come to reading a book about someone with my name. 8y

readinginthedark I read Bloomability and loved it! Been a while! 8y

Broke_Girl_Reads Bloomability! I can't believe I forgot about that book. Sharon Creech got me through my tweens 8y

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missjenniferlowe Elizabeth Enright has always been a favorite of mine! 8y

Mary-PeytonCrook Bloomability is one of those childhood books that shaped my life. 8y

annahenke @Purpleness @readinginthedark @Broke_Girl_Reads @missjenniferlowe @TheBadBitchBookReview Love hearing that I'm not alone! I enjoy posting old reads on here. 😊👊 8y

69 likes5 stack adds6 comments

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