Comments on: Thoughts on Authenticity http://librarygarden.net/2008/07/06/thoughts-on-authenticity-2/ An ongoing conversation among librarians with differing perspectives (public, academic, school, consortial, youth) but one shared goal: ensuring the health and relevance of libraries. [insert your own gardening metaphor here] Fri, 17 May 2013 18:44:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: @MCL http://librarygarden.net/2008/07/06/thoughts-on-authenticity-2/#comment-4371 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:52:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.net/2008/07/06/thoughts-on-authenticity-2/#comment-4371 >>. What expectations do users have about your services?
>>match and exceed positive expectations that people have about libraries of all types.

We’ve had three patrons in the last two weeks who have come from other libraries (in one case, four counties away) where they are not getting what they want. Patron pays for ILL service at his local library and they get the wrong edition of the book he requested. (He drove here to see if he could buy a card from us ..no, we don’t sell them. Open Borrowing and what all. We showed him how to use JerseyCat.) Another patron refused to settle her bill at her local library “where they yell at you.” Could we do it for her? Third patron announced to one and all, in ringing tones, “I’m never borrowing books from a library again! I’ll buy them first! [in this economy?]” This because her local library doesn’t believe she returned two books. (Her perception..this is all about patron perception.)
Times are tough, jobs are disappearing, people are stressed. They expect, now they *need*, courteous support from their libraries. And–gas prices notwithstanding?–they seem to be “shopping” libraries until they find what fits right and feels good and useful.

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