I conducted my secret shopping trip at the Southport Branch of
the Indianapolis Public Library. Suzy was the librarian that assisted me.
As a disclaimer – I do work for IndyPL, but I do
not know anyone at this specific branch and had only been inside the building
one time approximately 2 years ago to print something off and I talked to no
one.
Firstly, I want to say that secret shopping was awkward. I am someone who knows what I like to read and how to find it, so having to ask someone to help me find a book felt very different. But, I have to say - it was fun. Suzy, the librarian that helped me, was helpful, nice, and willing to admit that she doesn't read what I like to read, and I even left with a book to take home. The process looked like this:
- I asked for a good book to read
- Suzy asked if I liked fiction or non-fiction (always fiction), then proceeded to ask if I like a certain genre (romance).
- Suzy took me to a table with cards full of author lists based on genres like romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, LGBTQ+, etc. They had both historical and contemporary romance author lists - I chose historical.
- After choosing a card - Suzy offered to help me find some books in the stacks and showed me how you can sometimes easily identify romance novels based on the cover and sometimes based on the mass market paperback size.
- Suzy also listed off some author names she already knew to see if I liked any of them.
- Suzy then offered to go down some aisles and pull some books for me that I might like or to do an online search to see if we could find something there.
- I found a book on the shelf that I actually have been wanting to read, so I checked it out and my secret shopping was finished.
This experience was fun. I was able to see how another librarian would go about this process and see the different ways I could offer to help someone when I'm in my own job.
Katie, I had kind of the same feeling about asking for help finding a book. I feel like it's my job to search catalogs and other resources - and I had that attitude long before I started working in a library! Also, I do love browsing - so what's the rush to find a book? lol. And yet, I agree it was fun to have the conversation with the librarian. I guess it's just fun to talk about books we enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI love how this experience physically and tangibly had you (the patron) involved using the genre cards. It also gives you the freedom to have a little more independence when selecting a book, when you can see and read a list. Were the genre cards for patrons to take home? Or just in-house? I like this much better than being at the full mercy of the librarian on staff and not really being able to visualize what the librarian can find without invasively leaning over the info desk.
ReplyDeleteSuzy sounds like a great person. You had a much better experience then I had secret shopping. I like to think someday when I'm helping patrons, I will be a Suzy. It sounds like she had patience and an interest in her patrons.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie. I completely agree with you that the whole idea of secret shopping is strange. Normally I have an idea of what I want when I go into a library or bookstore as well, or at the very least, I want to discover it myself, because I'm stubborn and usually end up not like the recs I get. But overall, it sounds like you had a great interaction.
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