Making a Difference:

Becoming a Customer-Centric Library

Crystal Garcia LI850XI Leadership and Information Organizations Emporia State University

Customer-Centric?
A customer-centric organization is an organization that is operated from its customers point of view
-Marianne Lenox Hunstville-Madison County Public Library

Boomtown
Sherwood,

Oregon 1990 population = 3,080 2012 population = 18,200

New Sherwood, Old Sherwood

Newbies Commuters Young Historical

families Growth is good

ties Farming and agriculture Growth is bad

Old Library, New Library

Then

Now

New Library
In Civic Building
More

space More staff More Patrons More prominent location Much busier!

Old Library
One

room Not enough space Close relationships with patrons Small town feel

All residents want to feel a connection to their community and feel that their community is connected to them.

The Common Link

Why Change?
Library

advisory board members report negative word-of-mouth. Increase in negative patron comments. Increase in patron frustration.

Why Change? (cont.)

Knowledge is created through conversations -David Lankes
What

exactly should I be doing? your community!

Ask

Desired Change
A customer-centric library is operated from the its patrons point of view.
Improved

library image Increased library support Improved customer service skills Stronger staff/patron relationships Improved library services through conversations with patrons

Desired Change (cont.)

Step 1: Establishing a Sense of Urgency

Need

to protect the reputation of the library. Impending library levy asking voters to renew library funding.

Word-of-Mouth
While it may be true that the best advertising is word-of-mouth, never lose sight of the fact that it can also be the worst advertising. -Jef I. Richards

Patrons Pass Levies (or dont)

Levy funding directly affects the livelihood of library employees. Levies are passed every 5 yearsso library staff always have to be on.

Discussing the Crisis

Tell

everyone at the same time. Take into account varying levels of experience. Put everyone on the same page.

Step 2: Forming a Powerful Guiding Coalition

Library

Manager Circulation Supervisor 1 Lead Worker 1 Circulation Assistant

Step 3: The Vision

A

customer-centric organizational culture will reconnect the library with its patrons and help establish the library as a community hub. Improved interactions between patrons and staff will foster mutually beneficial relationships.

Vision into Reality

Change

= Learning Refocus staff training on soft skills

Strategy #1 Soft Skills Training Series

Customer

Communication for Government Responding to and Assisting People with Unique Needs Developing Cross-Cultural Intelligence What is Emotional Intelligence?

Strategy #2 Introduce Unified Services

Any

library service can be conducted at any service point. Non-hierarchical Increase staff/patron interaction

Strategy #3 Empower Through Education

Voluntary

participation 1 ALA online course 2 ALA webinars Explore areas of interest Become subject experts

Step 4: Communicating the Vision

Frequent

and Varied The Sherwood Gazette City of Sherwood newsletter, The Archer Staff newsletter column Lead by example Mini presentations/reviews by staff

Step 5: Remove Obstacles

Professionals

vs. Paraprofessionals Trainings as opportunities Update library job descriptions

Step 6: Plan for Short-Term Wins

Implement

2 patron-initiated changes within 6 months after training series. Formally recognize and reward staff with demonstrated performance improvement.

Step 7: Producing Still More Change

Is

policy change needed? Rotate the members of the guiding coalition.

Step 8: Institutionalizing New Approaches

New

values will be included in new staff/volunteer training. Patron-initiated changes will be routinely recognized.

Time For Change

Our only security is our ability to change. -John Lilly

References
Fyten, M. (2010, March 5). The power of bad word of mouth [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://brainsatwork.typepad.com/brainswork/2010/03/thepower-of-bad-word-of-mouth.html Kotter, J. (1995). Leading Change: Why transformational efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-67. Lankes, D. (2011). The Atlas of New Librarianship. Lenox, M. The Customer-Centric Library [powerpoint presentation]. Retrieved from SlideShare website: http://www.slideshare.net/mlx/the-customercentric-library Roark, C., & Freemyer, J. Organizational Change. Indiana Wesleyan University. Woodward, J. (2005). Creating a Customer-Driven Library. American Library Association.