At the recent Illinois Library Association Conference in Springfield, the keynote speaker talked a lot about Library 2.0 and what it means to us as individuals. Something that stuck in my mind was a question he asked, “What story is your library telling?” After this he showed us signs both good and bad from libraries across the country. We all know that there is only one chance at a first impression. Putting these two ideas really made me think me about different places I have visited, including libraries. I have decided to think of every meeting I have with a patron as my chance to make that first impression. Even if that patron comes in everyday they deserve to get a smile. It also made me want to step back and think about why we do the things we do. Did we make that choice to make it easier for us or because it makes sense in the bigger picture? Reference services are one place that we can make that impression over and over again. There are some libraries where an importance is places on reference services, but if looked at closely one could see that staff is only allowed to take a short time with each reference question. I realized that If library staff is give permission to take the time and resources they need to find the whole answer that impression will be a good one every time. I have a new perspective on my job, and libraries in general!
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