Target Audience: Library managers, librarians engaged in patron services Learning Outcomes: 1. Participants will be able to list seven steps in the service-building process. 2. Participants will be prepared to identify sustainable service opportunities that present as workplace aggravation.
Unmet needs in a library frequently present as recurrent aggravation that can drain morale and productivity. However, many of these aggravations can be turned into opportunities for creating new services for the library or niche markets for the librarians who respond to the hassle. We will offer tips on how to recognize sustainable opportunities from freak or fluke events, how to approach production logistics, and how to map out marketing and delivery strategies for services that can be grown from the original hassle or aggravation. Panel members will demonstrate the service-building process by describing how they responded to hassles in their libraries to build solutions and services. David Lehmann will present his strategy for filling a service gap created when a former "expert" took another job. Tara Lombardi will describe how she turned chaos into a service delivery system for her pro se patrons. Vicenç Feliu will present his plan for building a knowledge management system to track reference questions and solutions, and Charlene Cain will describe how she turned a chance opportunity for intellectual freedom training into a statewide outreach program.
