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World Languages at La Crosse Public Library
by Cindy Mischnick, Reference, La Crosse Public Library
A
few weeks ago, a woman came to the Reference desk and asked, “Where are
the cat books?” On autopilot, I took a piece of scrap paper and neatly
began to write 636.8. She quickly clarified her question and said, “No,
I mean cat stories; point me to the fiction section
with cat stories.” Okay, now I had a real reference question, so I
revved up my librarian brain, while stifling the other voice in my head
that said oh brother, why would we ever have a cat section in
fiction!
I
politely explained that we did not put all the cat stories together in
one section, but I could easily pull up a list of them on NoveList
or Amazon.com.
“As a matter of fact, here are 787 titles in our catalog with the
subject ‘Cats-Fiction’,” I said, “And you can find them by author’s last
name.” But this did not interest or soothe her, and over the course of
the next ten minutes, as I illustrated the multitude of ways we could
find cat stories, she didn’t want to hear one idea that might work. She
simply could not accept the fact that a library didn’t put books with
cat characters on the shelf together.
“But then we’d have to do dogs”, I said, “and horses, wolves,
raccoons…” Our conversation always stayed polite, and, in the end,
she departed happy, but without a book. That left me not only
envisioning a library where all the cat stories could be on the shelf
together, but also contemplating why libraries are sometimes so
difficult to use. So that brings me to the real subject of this
article: libraries are sometimes difficult to use. Here is another case
in point.
For years, our Circulation and Reference staff felt that little twitch
in the stomach anytime a customer would ask if we had materials that
teach a foreign language. The answer was “we do”—but the long answer
was “the books are on the second floor in two separate call numbers, the
audio is on the first floor, and the manuals for the audio might be on
another shelf; or sort of rubber-banded to the tape or cassette. The
audio is a little difficult to browse because some of the items are so
large they stick out of the shelf, so be careful. Be sure to check the
DVD shelf too. If you want books written in a foreign language we have a
few Spanish and German, or you could go to Murphy Library at UW-L. Oh,
sorry, the phone’s ringing.”
It was then that the librarian brain began thinking, “Wouldn’t it be
nice to have all the foreign language materials in one section?” We
could have a section for each language where books, cassettes, CDs,
CD-ROMs, DVD’s, PlayAways, and books written in a foreign
language were all interfiled so customers could quickly choose any
format by stopping at one shelf. And guess what? Now we do.
Since I am the librarian that does collection development in both the
800’s and 400’s, it seemed like it was my duty to at least pursue the
idea. All it took was a comment from the person who selects audio
books, who was thinking the same thoughts I was, to get us both rolling
on a proposal to our managers and the Library Director to create a
World Languages section at Main Library. We felt the combined
section would be easier for everyone. We also noticed that more
customers were requesting Asian and Eastern European languages, as well
as books written in many different foreign languages, so this collection
needed to grow.
Once we got the go-ahead, we weeded the audio section, purchased new
containers that would hold all the miscellaneous pieces together, and
got rid of the rubber bands. By integrating half of our Oversize section
back into the regular nonfiction, we created a sturdy, visible space for
the collection on our second floor that contains all formats interfiled
by language.
Over the last year, we’ve added lots of new materials and have had a
notable increase in circulation. Now, when someone asks if we have
materials that teach a foreign language, both Circulation and Reference
staff can just point to the World Languages sign on the second
floor, and the happy customer can be on their way in a flash.
So, sometimes when you recognize that a certain process is
frustrating or cumbersome to both customers and staff, it may be time to
search for a solution that’s a bit outside of the traditional librarian
brain. You’ll be glad to know, though, I’ve completely let go of
thinking about that cat, dog, horse and raccoon notion.
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