I agree with this article! From the Seattlest website. What do you think?
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July 30, 2007
Does Self-Checkout Make Libraries Less Friendly?
Back when Seattlest lived in Wallingford, we went to the Fremont branch of the library once a week. We got to know the staff there very well -- hi, Carl! Hi, Joan! Hi, Betty! We served as one of two citizens on the committee that picked the architectural firm that handled the branch's remodel.
While Fremont was closed for construction, we switched our regular patronage to the University branch. It's bigger than Fremont, and worked fine, but we never really got to know the staff there.
Before the Fremont branch reopened, we moved to Wedgwood and started using the North East Branch as our regular library. North East, so we've heard, is the busiest branch in the system. And we liked it fine -- plenty of hubbub -- but again, we never got to know the staff. We recognized them, and when we spoke to them they were friendly, but none of them seemed to remember us.
And now we're at Rainier Beach, a branch that (small exceptions aside) feels warmer than any branch we've used since Fremont. But even here, we don't feel as connected to the staff. We come in, get our books, help Little Miss Seattlest explore the kids' section, and leave.
Perhaps this will change over time. Perhaps we have changed, and become less friendly. Perhaps Fremont was an exceptional branch.
But we have a theory: self-checkout has made the libraries less friendly.
Our evidence: right around the time we switched to the University branch, self-checkout appeared in the library. There were hitches -- we had a particularly memorable experience where it took us 10 minutes and the help of two staff members to check out seven pieces of library material. But self-checkout improved, and we no longer got to chat with librarians or staff members as they scanned our books.
Now, with self-checkout, we can frequently get through an entire library visit without interacting with any library staff member. Unless anti-theft bits don't turn off, or we're picking up a DVD, in which case we have to flag a staff member to resolve the issue for us.
Without that interactivity, we don't get to know the staff, and the staff doesn't get to know us. They're not themselves unfriendly, but they're by necessity less social, less conversational, more multitask-oriented.
Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone else find self-checkout a mixed blessing, at best?
(We don't mean to pick on the library. Really, we love the library, even when it shushes us. But it's the things we
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1 comment:
I think that's true, in a way. We need to be extra careful to keep an eye on those self-checkout users. Sometimes people are having trouble with them and we sometimes aren't alert to that. This can make a potentially positive experience extremely frustrating.
We do need to make an effort to offer a friendly atmosphere for those customers that want it. Still, self-checkout is ideal for those who want to come in, grab materials, and keep moving. I'm a big self-checkout user in any of the retail places that offer it. Sometimes I just don't want to enter into a conversational relationship with the folks at the food store.
A branch manager I had at the Randallstown library years ago always told the staff to remember that it was our building - that it's our responsibility to create an ordered, welcoming and comfortable place by acting as hosts to the customers who come in. If you try to think of customers as guests in your home (without going overboard) then this comes naturally. Just greeting customers as you pass them can make a big difference in their experience.
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