Library Student Employee Guide: Circulation Desk Phone

Answering the Information Desk Phone

Greet the caller:

"Park University Library, this is (your name), how may I help you?"

• Try to keep your tone light and welcoming, speak clearly, and avoid clipped responses.

• When necessary, repeat the caller's question for clarification and provide an answer.

• When the caller is speaking, listen to what they have to say without interruptions. 

• When answering a question that involves a no, try this formula: start with the positive answers you can provide, express any limitations, and provide alternatives with specific recommendations (See below for frequently ask questions).

• It is perfectly okay to tell a caller that you don't know the answer to their question, and you need to direct them to someone who does. This is when you would loop your supervisor or one of the other librarians into the conversation.

• If transferring a call or putting the caller on hold, let the caller know before transferring the call (I'm going to transfer you to one of our Librarians, Rose Adams. She can help you with that. Please hold.)

To transfer calls

To transfer a call to another line, look at the telephone screen menus and press the button labelled “Transfer.”

Hit “Transfer Now” and start typing the name of the person you want to transfer to, or their complete phone number. Once the person you’re transferring to picks up, the call will automatically end. If someone calls for a librarian and they are unavailable, please take a detailed message, including:

• Name of caller
• Date & time of call
• Caller's phone number
• Detailed message
• Take the message to the Librarian they called for

Example telephone statements

• (Person's name) is away from their desk. May I take a message or is there something I can do to assist you?
• (Person's name) is not in their office at the moment but they are in the building. May I take a message?
• (Person's name) is out of the office today. Is there something I can help you with?

How Do I Use the Printer?

The library uses a cloud-based system called WEPA. Students will have to upload the documents they want to print to their university-provided google drive account. After this, they can either download the WEPA app and sign in this way (this is the best option if they have a smart phone and are planning to print throughout the semester) or log in with their park university credentials at the printer kiosk. More information regarding this is located in the 'helpful resources' section of the guide under 'Printing'

How do I reserve a huddle room?

Students are able to reserve the huddle rooms via the tablet next to the information desk or online here: https://park.libcal.com/reserve/huddle. This link is available from the library website's homepage under the "About the Library" Drop-down menu.

I don't have a reservation for the huddle rooms. Can I use them anyway?

If a huddle room (or the learning lab for that matter) is not reserved, it's free for use. Please remind students that anyone who has not booked the space will have to leave if it is booked. For this reason, please recommend that students book the space for the time they expect to be in it, even if that starting point for that time is immediately.
 

I'm a former student. Can I still use the library?

Answer: the Park University Library building is open to the public. Anyone who would like to use our physical space, look at the art gallery upstairs, or get a coffee from the Jolly Roger is welcome to. However, due to the library's limited resources, and the fact that Park is a private university, the library's collections and equipment are only available to active Park University students.

This means, unfortunately, that anyone who is not an active park student will be unable to check out books, log on to the library computers or access the printer.

A few details regarding this:

--Park University Library is part of a consortia (a group of libraries who share their collections and resources) called MOBIUS. Members of the community and scholars from other universities are able to use our books and other resources like articles through Inter-Library-Loan (ILL) but this must be done through their institution. You're welcome to direct them to one of the librarians (Rose, Camille, or Jenna) for more information.

--If you're uncomfortable providing this information, you're welcome to say something like "I know we have some resources for alumni and members of the community but I'm not sure what exactly. Please hold while I reach out to my supervisor to get you more information).