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Secret Shopper


In college, I wanted to make some extra side cash and a popular job at the time {that I thought I'd get rich at [eyeroll]} was being a secret shopper.  You logged onto a website and saw opportunities in your area with specific instructions: go here, ask this, do this, return this, etc., then get paid for the write up. Sadly, I never made much money.  This experience was the the same LOL!  Being a patron felt strange and unfamiliar.  Walking into a library and having some idea of what I want or enjoying perusing is usually such fun for me so putting on my game face and asking for assistance felt entirely false.  That said, the value of having a person who can be our right-hand escort through a collection really can’t be measured.  Not every patron feels that they need this service, but sometimes we “just want to talk to a person!”  This current time period is so unique in that we don’t want to interact with people, but sometimes you just want a human to escort you to the need instead of fumbling around, looking for a mystery answer.
My interaction was overall quite positive.  Despite the fact that I work in a library, I don't get to read every author that comes to stay on our shelves.  The librarian in adult fiction that served as my tour guide was able to direct me to three well-known authors, but none of which I had read before.  She did a mini-RA interview that hit on the high points of the author I was jumping off of and then was able to make diverse recommendations that helped me to branch out.  I particularly appreciated this approach because I got to stay in the driver's seat, but might discover a whole new author that I can go down the bunny trails of. 

Comments

  1. JenniferFebruary 6, 2020 at 12:27 PM

    Happy to hear you had a positive outcome! Were there any particular questions she asked or ways she approached it that you found helpful?

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    Replies
    1. Shannon RollinsFebruary 7, 2020 at 8:43 AM

      I appreciated that she started with rapport building and discussing the author's recent death. She transitioned to characteristics of the author's books and questioned me on what elements I appreciated: pacing, sexuality present, language. Overall, her communication with me seemed very conversational and I appreciated that.

      Delete
  2. LibrarishannFebruary 6, 2020 at 6:01 PM

    I totally know what you mean by just wanting to "talk to a person." I can be fairly shy about approaching people to ask for help, generally--I wonder if it's a Midwest thing, an eldest child thing, a woman thing....some combination, etc. I have to get over a mental block that allows me to ask for help. But then, once I do, I don't want to spend time going through a phone tree or reading long written explainers. I just want to talk to a real live human and get straight to the point. Glad you had a positive experience!

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    Replies
    1. Shannon RollinsFebruary 7, 2020 at 8:45 AM

      YES!! By the time I'm asking for help, I truly feel like I have tried to locate the answer myself so I just get frustrated if I'm then put through the paces of have you checked this, did you look here, did you try this???

      Delete
    2. RachelFebruary 8, 2020 at 3:29 PM

      My people! :) I am self-sufficient except when I need help and then I want you to listen to where I'm at in my search and start there, not back at the beginning. I call it the no-nonsense approach.

      I'm glad you had such a positive experience! It sounds like the librarian was familiar with the area of adult fiction that you were looking to explore? Or was it a librarian who does a lot of RA? I've heard one of the suburban libraries in my general area has an RA desk and I really wanted to go there to conduct my assignment but life didn't allow for a 2 hour field trip this week. Hopefully in the future...

      Delete
  3. Erin CataldiFebruary 12, 2020 at 11:34 AM

    Great summary!

    ReplyDelete

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