1. Media desk and IT department on separate floor with one service desk.

2. Value separate reference desk staffed with librarians and well-trained paraprofessionals.

3. Hire LIS students for late night shifts.

4. Circ desks near the exits.

5. Reference desk is called the Information Center.

6. Circ and Reserves are combined.

7. Main entrance has Circ/Reserv on one side and reference on the other.

8. Everyone who enters must sign in.

9. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or over.

10. Anyone entering the building after 10pm must have a college ID and can’t get into the building without it.

11. Media library is upstairs and IT is downstairs near an additional library entrance (this entrance only affiliated patrons can access).

12. One reference desk since renovation with circ/reserves further away. Periodicals/govdocs service on the floor above.

13. Multimedia commons staffed by the University computing students.

14. Hold shelf rather than reserves which are at the reference desk.

15. Archives are a separate service point one floor down.

16. Four services points…

• Archives and Special Collections
• Circulation
• Reference
• Curriculum Center on the ground floor

16. One help desk on the main level (combining circ, reserves, ILL and reference).

17. Same as Amherst’s set up.

18. Circulation desk/helpdesk are merging and are now the “Welcome Center”.

19. The library merged with IT (Circ, reserves, media, helpdesk) all in one.

20. Reference assistance from a separate reference area.

21. One desk for Reference/Information and one for Circ/Reserve (ILL is also picked up here) the library Media department service point and Special Collections/Archives are separate service points.

22. One service point called the Commons (IT support, laptop checkout, a-v checkout and information desk). The reference desk was just closed and will set up a separate space for reference interviews.

23. Maps have a separate service point.

24. DVD’s are housed at the Circ Desk.

25. Will be combining the reference and circulation service desk.

26. A reference desk, a circ desk by the front entrance, a reserve desk next to circ, a government docs reference desk one level below and a special collections/archives service desk. Plus a media circ desk and IT area.

27. All except one library branch operates from on a single physical desk and that one (the central branch) is working towards having only one next year.

28. We currently have 4 service points:

• First we run a Service desk(first call desk when you enter the library). This desk houses Circulation/ILL/Reserves/Multimedia and Quick Help.
• From the iZone/Help desk (the information commons is on the same floor further back in the library). Here we answer more in depth questions plus IT and student support queries referring patrons to our teaching team.
• From the Copy&Card desk we deal with ID cards, copying, printing, faxing, password problems, spiral binding, etc…
• From our Collections help desk (one floor up and the public face of our collections staff) we retrieve from Archives and answer questions about thesis deposit, research archive (our e-repository) etc…

Suggestions/Advice:

Look at the place where users are most likely to be doing research and put a service point (desk, kiosk, whatever) there.

Circ desks are best near the door for the convenience of users as well as for security.

Keep Circ and Reference together if possible.

Make sure that there is either roving, or and actual “information” desk on all floors, some kind of service point. Your patrons will be grateful in the long run.

The administration has considered joining Circulation and Reference in one location.

Having one service point is easier and seems to be expected by the users.

Anything which makes it easier for patrons to obtain information should get a green light and then stop to gauge the effectiveness.

Our new service will free reference/subject librarians to do more professional activities that will help their departments more directly.

The emphasis has been on cutting service points and yet providing excellent service.

It would help the distribution of our staffing to have fewer service points, but may not be the best for the way that the patrons use the services, so we would not wish to make changes that will inconvenience our users.

We are considering alternative models that might consolidate these desks and or move them more forward towards the entrance. We are also working actively with alternative service models e.g. reference on call. A bell at the front desk to summon a librarian from the offices at slow periods. IM and Ask a librarian e-mail.

To remain relevant libraries must play an expanding role.

Here is the new there.

Some issues that may impede effective library service:

• Monolingual/monocultural library staff and services
• Unfamiliarity with and misperceptions of library services
• Physical barriers {signage, visual, ADA, etc}
• Lack of sufficient or alternative access points

Libraries with an Instant Messaging Presence:

http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Online_Reference#Libraries_Using_IM_Reference

Helpful Sites:

In Library Philosophy and Practice (ISSN: 1522-0222) the article titled “No longer the sacred cow — no longer a desk: transforming reference service to meet 21st Century user needs” by Gabriela Sonntag and Felicia Palsson suggests that “reference services centered on a desk is an “emergency” style service that is not cost-effective.”