Access Services Interest Group

Hello,

I'm interested in finding out what others are doing now the libraries have reopened to pre-COVID services.  Do you still have staff working remotely and if so what types of projects/assignments/task are your Access Services staff working on?  Being a public service, frontline-facing department, there is so much one can do remotely.  I work for a private academic library in Illinois and I'm interested in finding out if remote options are still needed, how they're being used in Access Services  and its purpose for your institution.  If you have any suggestions of comments, please feel free to respond as your thought direct you to do so.   

Thanks in advance,

Joel Sanders - Head of Access Services DPU

Hi Joel,

I'm only going to speak from a Resource Sharing/Interlibrary Loan perspective, which is only one part of access services, but my team has the option to work remotely one day a week. On the days they work remotely, some things they may do: process lending requests that can be filled electronically, send out borrowing requests, create/maintain/organize documentation, process billing, work on professional development goals, run statistics, work on special projects, participate in meetings, and field emails. Physical work that would typically be done by a person is then done by another person on those days. This has allowed for solid cross-training within the unit and has provided greater flexibility when we encounter absences as well as opportunities to see where processes can be improved. Deliberately engaging in flexible work allows us to be more "nimble and adaptable" (from our mission statement) when unplanned flexibility is required.

Hello,

I'm interested in finding out what others are doing now the libraries have reopened to pre-COVID services.  Do you still have staff working remotely and if so what types of projects/assignments/task are your Access Services staff working on?  Being a public service, frontline-facing department, there is so much one can do remotely.  I work for a private academic library in Illinois and I'm interested in finding out if remote options are still needed, how they're being used in Access Services  and its purpose for your institution.  If you have any suggestions of comments, please feel free to respond as your thought direct you to do so.   

Thanks in advance,

Joel Sanders - Head of Access Services DPU

Hello,

I'm interested in finding out what others are doing now the libraries have reopened to pre-COVID services.  Do you still have staff working remotely and if so what types of projects/assignments/task are your Access Services staff working on?  Being a public service, frontline-facing department, there is so much one can do remotely.  I work for a private academic library in Illinois and I'm interested in finding out if remote options are still needed, how they're being used in Access Services  and its purpose for your institution.  If you have any suggestions of comments, please feel free to respond as your thought direct you to do so.   

Thanks in advance,

Joel Sanders - Head of Access Services DPU

Hi Joel,

While we don't have a specific regular remote work schedule, we definitely allow ad-hoc remote work for staff in Access Services, as needed by their schedules and/or work patterns.

For instance, if someone is in several web meetings on a single day it often makes more sense for them to work remotely than to give the mistaken appearance of availability by coming in to the library, especially for those without private offices.  It's also convenient in that they can help with reference coverage (chat, phone, email) at a time when they'd otherwise be not be doing anything but need to be at home, such as during contractor visits or helping to care for a sick relative.

Telework can be especially conducive to generating or developing new ideas for student employee management.  Working from home allows managers to focus on writing evaluations, developing/selecting new tools for student use (or creating trainings on them), running and interpreting reports, creating summaries, participating in web interviews of prospective hires, etc.  There's a lot of work we expect any given member of our staff to do that is entirely feasible to complete anywhere with good internet access and a computer. 

We're also constantly trying to come up with new projects or learning experiences that can help our student employees with professional development while also benefiting the library, and the vast majority of that can be done anywhere, and may even benefit significantly from time spent out of the office. 

If someone's work is entirely based around stacks maintenance, I could see that being limiting...  But even then, presumably they could generate or interpret reports, follow up digitally on a list of specific items, or develop proposals for improved workflows?  Committee work or delegated tasks from a manager would also be options, especially if staff are encouraged to think of ways to improve their departments or the user experience.  Even writing up a new procedure for shifting the collection, or collaborating with managers to codify expectations for work quantity/accuracy in shelf-reading are things that can be done remotely, and may be more efficient in a location where the person isn't constantly expecting to be challenged by the everyday interruptions of a normal office.

Obviously, the ability to accommodate remote work is heavily determined by coverage capacity and the efficiency individual employees demonstrate when working remotely...  But for me, as long as they're obviously producing about as effectively as they do in-person (if not more), it isn't appreciably different than the kind of scheduling dance I have to do when someone is going on vacation.

Hello,

I'm interested in finding out what others are doing now the libraries have reopened to pre-COVID services.  Do you still have staff working remotely and if so what types of projects/assignments/task are your Access Services staff working on?  Being a public service, frontline-facing department, there is so much one can do remotely.  I work for a private academic library in Illinois and I'm interested in finding out if remote options are still needed, how they're being used in Access Services  and its purpose for your institution.  If you have any suggestions of comments, please feel free to respond as your thought direct you to do so.   

Thanks in advance,

Joel Sanders - Head of Access Services DPU