[Baynet] Infopeople's "Empowering Your New Library Customers" workshop

Wed Sep 2 13:30:17 PDT 2009

Since some people who may be interested in participating might not receive
this notice directly, we would appreciate it if you would print and post or
route this announcement to staff and colleagues. Thanks!

Title:  Empowering Your New Library Customers

Dates and locations:

Thursday, October 15, Los Angeles Public Library

Friday, October 23, San Francisco Public Library

Tuesday, November 17, South Natomas Library (Sacramento)

Wednesday, December 9, Buena Park Library District

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at

http://infopeople.org/workshop/434 

Fee:  $75 for those in the California library community.

If your library is like others all over the country, you are seeing
increasing numbers of new customers. These new customers are first time
users or returning to the library after a long absence. With loss of jobs,
revenue, or property as motivating factors, they may be coming into your
library with a high level of anxiety and potentially unrealistic
expectations. Add these ingredients to your existing base of
customers--those attending storytimes, participating in book clubs, asking
reference questions, placing and picking up holds, and needing assistance
with circulation concerns--and you have a recipe for stress for staff and
customers alike. 

This workshop addresses the human side of libraries as resource centers in
hard economic times. With more customers than ever using public access
computers and needing assistance, empowering new library customers to become
self sufficient is a win-win situation. Empowered customers are less likely
to get defensive or frustrated which reduces stress and saves staff time in
dealing with difficult situations. In addition, if customers learn to self
serve around a task that happens multiple times a day, many hours of staff
time per week can be saved. 

Workshop Description: This all-day workshop will provide opportunities to
look at ways that customers can self-serve and provide practice working with
customers so they feel empowered. There will be time to develop customized
responses to common customer requests and look at tools to support self
service including handouts, audio, video and screencasts. The instructor
will provide practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately to start
saving time in a typical day. 

Preliminary Course Outline:

.         What Do We Mean By Self Service And Why It's A Win-Win 

How much time can you save through self service 

Does this match your customer service philosophy 

Stress reduction through self-service 

.         Welcoming New Library Customers 

Customize responses for common customer types 

Seniors, new parents, job seekers, non-English speakers, teens 

.         Empowering New Library Customers 

Make them feel special 

Language to use so customers feel empowered 

Simple, jargon free explanations 

.         Teach Self-Sufficiency In The Use Of Library Resources 

The catalog 

Finding books on the shelves 

When and why to ask a librarian 

.         Use a "Here's What I Can Do For You" Approach 

Manage unrealistic customer expectations. 

Manage your own reactions to the increasing demands on your time and
attention 

Create an assistance triage with co-workers or volunteers. 

.         Create Tools To Help New Customers Help Themselves. 

Instructor:  Cheryl Gould.  Cheryl has been a training consultant for
Infopeople since 1996. She has delivered workshops on a wide range of topics
including: Increasing computer competency, search skills, Training the
Trainer, Word, Powerpoint, Libris Design, Mastering Tough Public Service
Situations and Cutting Edge Customer Service Techniques. Recent additions to
her toolbox include helping organize library staff days and acting as MC and
playground director throughout the day to facilitate people getting to know
each other, have a bit of fun and stay energized. Her current role as
Training Consultant for Infopeople keeps her involved in all of the
Infopeople workshops and allows her to not only spread the gospel of strong
training techniques, but to keep current on what's going on in libraries
around the state. 

Who Should Attend: Anyone from the California library community with an
interest in empowering their customers and reducing stress. 

Prerequisites: None 

If you would like to subscribe via RSS and be notified whenever new
Infopeople training events are available, you can use these links:

**For new on-ground or online workshops: http://infopeople.org/workshop/rss 

**For new podcasts: http://feeds.feedburner.com/InfopeoplePodcasts 

Other Logistics:

*On-site check-in is from 8:30-9:00 AM; instruction is from 9:00 AM-4:30 PM.

*Maps, directions, and parking information are available on the Infopeople
Web site at 

http://infopeople.org/workshop/location     Infopeople does not validate or
pay for parking.

*Infopeople does not provide refreshments or lunch.  Since some training
locations do not have in-house or convenient food service.  Infopeople
recommends that participants bring a sack lunch.

To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general information
about Infopeople training opportunities, go to the main Infopeople Workshops
page at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop  

If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops, please
contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.

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