Reference Librarian Interview

When we first received this assignment, I remember asking Professor Oakleaf if I should be trying to talk to a school librarian or not, since they are not “reference librarians” per se (I know, I know- what a learning experience this has been!). At that time, the professor said that I should try to expand my idea of what a reference librarian is, and that a school librarian was a fine choice for my observation. I only knew one school librarian to ask, and she was unavailable, so I “cold e-mailed” a local school librarian, because, based on her website, I felt she would be as innovative and forward thinking as our program is here at Syracuse.The first time I met with the librarian, I conducted the interview and we set up times for the observations. As we went through the list of questions and I heard her responses a part of me thought, “Oh no, maybe I did not pick the right person for this.” We were not too far into the semester, and we had just spent a fair amount of time on reference interviewing, and were just starting reference books on reference books. I was expecting answers that would be similar to what we had thus far learned.For example, when we talked about how she provides reference service to her patrons, she said that her library does not have a reference desk, and that questions are asked and answered on the fly. She even mentioned answering reference questions in the bathroom! The bathroom again came up when asked about the typical reference questions (as in, “Can I have the bathroom pass?”). She also said that her most often used reference resources were Google, Wikipedia, and OPAC. She claimed her goals for reference service were “down and dirty- just get the questions answered.” Her overall reference services are not evaluated in any way, because it was “not practical.” These were definitely not the type of answers I was expecting. What about the reference interview? The reference books on reference books? You use Google and Wikipedia? Is it too late to change librarians? Maybe the professor won’t like these answers, and will feel I should have changed if I don’t.I decided to go ahead with the observations and see what happened. Best choice I ever made! She is a fantastic school librarian, and it was my sense of what a reference librarian does that was off. This librarian has a very strong technical background, so a lot of her reference questions are AV related. I observed her one morning trying to help a teacher get set up who could not open her email, and could not print. She told me during the interview that a good area to focus on as I complete my program would be the technical aspect- AV issues, knowing Smartboard, Blackboard, My Grade Book, Photo Story, etc. She said that although they have a computer help- desk, most of the teachers will come to her first. On her list of things to focus on were also multi- tasking, flexibility, and life-skills. She demonstrated these beautifully throughout the semester. She mentioned to me that technology is a great inroad with the teachers- a way for them to see your capabilities and it provides chances to approach them about collaboration.Her style is casual, but you can tell right away the she is a real “go-getter.” When we discussed what reference service looks like to her, she talked about being very pro-active. She demonstrated this throughout the semester by pulling information for teachers, and approaching them on collaboration. Much of what I observed was the product of these efforts. One of the final projects I observed was having the students create Public Service Announcements about sexting. The health teacher she was collaborating with mentioned to me that it had been entirely the librarian’s brain child. In the day to day reference work, Lindsay said that reference questions span everything from readers advisory, to “where is…,” to technology help. She said that the “traditional” reference work is usually done on collaboration projects with teachers. When she is helping instruct on reference she said that she prefers a hands-off method, always trying to allow the student to run the mouse. As far as what a rookie needs to know, she mentioned OPAC, the internal circulations system (Mandarin for her), to know the library, and to know who to ask for help from. When deciding on reference resources, she said that most often it is the teacher setting the guidelines, however, aspects that she values are ease of access and speed (she genuinely is a busy person!), and that she feels Wiki can be a great place to start. When asked to describe a recent reference transaction, the story involved a DVD player not working for the teacher (surprise- a technology question!). The librarian realized the setting on the computer was wrong, but she does not have administrative access. She then tried finding the video on YouTube, but the school filters would not allow it. Eventually, they found the VHS copy and used that. Things that went wrong were having an unprepared teacher, not enough administrative access, and filters that would not allow her to get the job done. However, what went right was that they found a way (using the old technology) and the students got the information. She said that if she could change anything, she would like administrative access, and to be able to access YouTube. Overall, I was very pleased with my reference observations. She is vivacious, well-informed and has a real talent for her job. The answer that struck me the most though, was when asked what patrons she likes working with the most, she answered, “Kids who love to read.” And that, in a nutshell, is why we are here.