Join us to learn about the C.A.R.E.S. framework of customer service, how it can be taught to up-skill staff, and how these skills can be assessed by a supervisor. C.A.R.E.S. stands for communication, accountability, response, empathy, and solution - the key ingredients in patron satisfaction. Learning Objectives: 1. understand the C.A.R.E.S. framework. 2. develop ideas on how to teach the C.A.R.E.S. framework to staff. 3. develop ideas on assessing the efficacy of staff with the C.A.R.E.S. framework.
Co-developed the MCL Customer Service training in the C.A.R.E.S. framework with Andy (speaker no. 1 above), oversee a team of professional librarians and other staff and assess customer service skill., Mesa County Libraries
I currently train and assess customer service for 20 employees at the Mesa County Libraries. Elizabeth (speaker 2) and I present training to all new staff in the C.A.R.E.S. framework of customer service., Mesa County Libraries
Tuesday October 6, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am CDT Pyle Center702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706
Many user services units collect patron transaction data, but how often are frontline library staff involved in the processes of meaning- and decision-making using this data? This session will detail one approach to integrating user services staff into the process of data analysis through the format of an in-unit working group. The working group undertakes a variety of qualitative analytical approaches to data collected in LibAnswers and Libraryh3lp in order to identify trends in patron needs and uses these trends to generate ideas for special projects. Attendees will gain insight into how including staff in the process of data analysis leads to better-vetted findings and actionable plans as well as increased staff engagement and agency.
The Student Employee Supervisors at Wartburg’s Vogel Library are always experimenting with new training methods. Our two teams of student employees are often the first contact patrons have when they seek library services, so it is important that we train our teams to be self-disciplined thinkers who will approach patron interactions with the highest level of quality, integrity and equity. In other words, with excellent customer service and a mindset of inclusion. The guiding force behind our training is our student employment policies (ex: safe space and confidentiality policies) and etiquette guidelines. Over the past few years changes in campus dynamics and feedback from students has prompted us to become more creative in our training approaches, incorporating the use of skits, one-on-one meetings, and Canvas, our campus’ learning management system. In this session we will talk about the evolution of our training and communication methods, our annual development cycle, and key takeaways. We will also provide an opportunity for session attendees to share their student employee training stories.
Student Employment & Circ. Supervisor, Wartburg College
In my current position I wear several hats, including supervising library student workers, overseeing circulation, and scheduling library classrooms and meeting rooms. Working in a library setting is fairly new to me, after working nearly 20 years for an environmental non-profi... Read More →
Meet me in the library at midnight- I’ll bring the Ghost Hunting Kit! At Michigan Technological University, the JR Van Pelt and Opie library has been experimenting with packing items from its Library of Things into adventure kits and hosting field trips. We found students loved the idea of our Library of Things, but some of the more fun items were often underutilized and overlooked in favor of the more practical calculators, laptops, and cables we lend. Located in the incredibly scenic upper peninsula of Michigan, we saw items such as our GoPros, DSLR cameras, and timers as tools that could do more than just support class projects; these could encourage campus community members to explore our unique area, engage prospective students, and showcase new items.
Join us for a conversation about the logistics of planning field trips, assembling and lending kits on the go with Alma, cultivating partners, and measuring success. We’ll weave in interactive, round-table style brainstorming and conversation on how you can replicate and adapt this at your institution, so that you can leave with a plan!
Regardless of a person's socioeconomic standing, everyone is entitled to use their local library. Charging patrons for an item that was accidentally damaged while checked out to them deters them from using the library. This can be for many reasons, whether it be that they are unable to afford it or for the shame they feel for damaging an item. This feels contradictory to what we believe a library should be advocating for within our community. One way that we felt that we could make a difference would be to enact an accident forgiveness policy. This is a multistep process that made us reassess how and why we sent patrons to collections, added a processing fee, and ultimately, how we kept patrons from using the library.
Student employees are the backbone of the academic library, particularly for access and circulation departments. Many of our student employees go on to enjoy careers in library and information services. Managers in circulation and access services develop early-career information professionals by promoting student employees to advanced roles, assigning advanced tasks and providing advanced training and mentorship. Additionally, advanced student workers help overburdened staff with their operational tasks like circulation reports, responding to patron emails, and stacks maintenance projects. Trusting our student employees with advanced mission-critical tasks more thoroughly engages them in our work, improving the quality of service our patrons receive and providing invaluable workplace experience to young professionals.
This conference session will involve a short discussion of advanced student worker roles in UW-Madison Access Services, including our recent role leveling project as we bring student roles from multiple libraries into alignment under one department. We will also discuss training and supervision best practices for advanced student employee roles. Interactive activities will follow, in which session attendees will examine tasks and roles from your own libraries to identify opportunities for advanced student employees. Templates and other take-home materials will be provided. This session will be most beneficial for managers and supervisors of student employees in access and circulation services but all are welcome to attend.
In this session, you will learn how to:
- Design advanced student positions, tasks and projects that match library needs with student career goals and interests - Train lead students to train and guide other student workers - Provide mentorship opportunities for early-career information professionals
You will leave with strategies you can use right away.
A misshelved book. LIS migration with no record cleanup. Incorrect call number labels. These are stacks crimes that Tisch Library has faced for years. No inventory of the stacks has ever been completed at Tisch, but one department is determined to close the case file and resolve these mysteries. Using modern API integrations with Alma, our forensic investigators (student workers) systematically examine our crime scene. As they scan items, they are alerted to inconsistencies between Alma and what they see. These investigators pull the items and bring these “clues” to the detectives (Access Staff) who further investigate in Alma what the problems are, resolving what we can, and passing through the Chain of Custody (i.e. technical services work orders) things we cannot. Resolving a variety of "crimes" that have plagued our stacks for years, come hear about the significant progress made in ensuring our shelves and catalog match for the first time in Tisch history. At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to outline the basic components for starting an inventory project. Participants will be able to compare their current inventory processes and identify areas for improvement.
Our presentation details a novel approach to inventory through our ILS' weeding workflows. The workflow functions as a figurative 'lens' through which our holdings are assessed for item and bibliographic-level cataloguing errors or inconsistencies; the proliferation of these for some 16 years prior being a major pain point in the transition to a new ILS. As opposed to typical "snapshot" models of inventory, our method manifests a recombinant teleological and modular process; reporting and data accrual are now continual versus periodic in output, and there is no need for closure. While the procedure is tied to a specific ILS, we believe the broader philosophy and underlying concepts will be applicable to most other library systems.
Get ready for a behind-the-scenes look at how one library system transformed a simple Strategic Plan idea into a vibrant, systemwide circulation staff conference; an event that not only built practical skills but sparked new confidence, collaboration, and professional growth across every level of circulation work.
An action team dug into systemwide survey responses to pinpoint the training topics that mattered most to our frontline staff. With that foundation, we brought in a keynote speaker, an inspiring leadership expert who wove staff interests into an energizing opening session that set the tone for the entire day.
Staff input fueled a lineup of sessions that blended hands-on learning with forward-thinking professional development: navigating workplace conflict, sustainable workplace ergonomics, pathways to promotion and more. You will learn in this session practical ideas, inspiration, and a clearer sense of how inclusive and staff driven planning will help you develop your own localized circulation conference.
