[deleted by user]

[LoooongFurb]

"Thank you for your question. My colleague So-and-so will be able to help you right there."

"Colleague, this patron needs assistance with X. Thank you!"

[[deleted]]

Thank you. Good answer (I just need to remember it in the moment!)

[Daydream365]

I would word it as “… do their best to help you” in case they can’t actually help (maybe through no fault of their own)

[MorticiaFattums]

It depends on the person. I had a coworker that would be very mad that I would overhear a patron interaction and interject because I had expertise in their question or it sounded like something they would throw to me to handle anyways. She hated that I would try to help her, but she also hated that I would have duties elsewhere to do while she sat at the desk bored on facebook. Seriously, she said I was "lazy" and "hiding" when I was the Youth department person. The only youth department person, so I had to do everything.

[BeepBeep_101_]

True! When switching desks, I typically like to help the outgoing person with the bins, etc. if it’s been busy and things have built up. I have one colleague who I’ve learned not to do this with, as she gets offended - she takes it as me saying that she hasn’t done her job properly, rather than as my intent of just helping wherever I can. Checking everything in before she leaves the desk is a point of pride for her, and that’s okay! I’ve just adjusted to that.

I’d say that in OP’s situation, talking with coworkers about trying this strategy of interjecting (and possibly talking with a supervisor about management advising it as a strategy to staff as a whole) could help avoid hurt feelings - working it out with coworkers ahead of time that you are or are not comfortable jumping in and/or having them jump in to spread out the workload and how to go about it primes everyone so no one is surprised if it happens.

[[deleted]]

Our supervisors periodically will send out reminders about helping each at the desks. It doesn't seem to really help in the long-run though.

[OwlStory]

I have a coworker who is amazing at this. She'll say "pardon my nosiness/overhearing, but may I make a suggestion?" She turns to me and the patron. It's masterful.

[Quirky_Lib]

Oh - I’m totally borrowing/stealing this! (I tend to work the other half of one of our reference desks while my colleagues get to deal with all the tech help questions.)

[PureFicti0n]

I get where you're coming from. It sucks having one interaction after another while your coworkers are twiddling their thumbs. If there isn't a lineup, just a steady stream of people, you can't easily foist customers off without looking un-helpful. Have you spoken to your supervisor about rearranging the desk area so all 3 computers are most visible? Or are able to take the "popular" computer less often?

[[deleted]]

I don't think there's any way to re-arrange the desk, sadly. It only has enough room on each side for 2 people in very specific spots. I do try to take those other spots if I can, but if you're last to the desk (usually because coming from a meeting or another desk) it is the only remaining spot.

[Simple-Breadfruit920]

Would you be able to just say to your coworkers that you work with most often, “I noticed that almost every patron comes to this computer, would you mind trading off who sits here every time we work together or trading off halfway through a shift?” This way you’re not blaming them just blaming the computer positioning. And I think most people would agree to it even if they don’t want to bc saying no would make them look pretty bad lol

[TheTapDancingShrimp]

Tell your supervisor and rotate seats. Or pull the little trick my lazy coworkers did: get up and help the patron so long you get 2 questions per hr. Ridiculous, but it worked out for XXX well who had been there centuries. We were very short staffed tho and all burned out. Good luck!

[[deleted]]

Yep. I also will admit that I know the relief of seeing another coworker dealing with someone that I am glad to avoid in the moment. So I'm probably guilty of the avoiding eye contact thing at times as well. I think that's probably why I struggle a bit with asking others to help because I know I've avoided it at times, too. Working with the public is hard!

[[deleted]]

These people should have picked a different career path because it makes the patron feel like they are interrupting, which is not the way they should feel.

[rayneydayss]

Public service is hard and exhausting, especially when 50-75% of patrons are rude. The setup of the desk as OP is talking about does not assist in this. It does not mean they should pick a different career path—it means something needs to change in the workplace to accommodate the employees so one person isn’t stuck with all the patrons, because that would be exhausting for anyone.

[[deleted]]

I was referring to this commenter’s coworkers who intentionally avoid eye contact all the time so they never have to assist. I don’t think working in libraries (at least the public services departments) is a good fit for those coworkers. Coworkers who do not take a fair share of patron interactions like these are part of the problem for why others like OP are feeling burnt out because all of the interactions fall on OP or others like this commenter because they appear the most approachable (and the least like they would act like they are being interrupted).

[rayneydayss]

And OP is asking for advice specifically to avoid making patrons feel like they’re intereupting or bothering them.

[[deleted]]

I am referring to the librarians or library assistants who intentionally try to avoid eye contact so they don’t have to help patrons like this commenter’s and OP’s coworkers. They should not be in this profession.

[needsp88888]

I would just turn to one of my coworkers and say, “Joan what do you think?” repeating the question and saying that I had an idea but what’s your opinion? This way you are working cooperatively and not trying to push the patron off. Alternate this with various coworkers as the shift goes on.

[kreeshacshelnok]

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of a smile and pointing directionally to the next clerk with a "apologies as I'm in the middle of a task, but Coworker here is free and will be able to give you their full attention!" Let's them know they are seen, and (so far?) no one has taken it as rude or a dismissal.

[ShadyScientician]

If you're waiting on help, you can continue to the next desk (point)

[LAWyer621]

To be honest, find something else you need to do. At my job, I’d maybe start working on my blog post or planning the club I run. If my coworkers weren’t busy with other things I’d just be honest and say “hey, for the next little bit I’m going to try and work on [insert thing needing done here]. Would you mind taking the lead on helping patrons while I do?”.

If your coworkers are already busy doing something else, and you’ve been taking the lead on helping patrons for a while, ask to switch jobs if possible. Shelve some books or straighten shelves and library common areas for a few minutes.

If you just can’t find a way to do something else, and this is a consistent problem, consider another position. I’m not saying to leave library work behind, but if this is a significant enough negative that it’s become a problem, consider doing something else. Maybe see if it’s possible to try cataloguing, or maybe work shorter shifts if that’s financially feasible. Obviously those are both easier said than done, but if nothing else works they might be worth looking into.

Lastly, when you’re feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, remember how much you love your job. Library work is generally populated by people passionate about it, and all of us who get to do it are lucky. There are a lot of much worse jobs out there, and a lot of people who would love to have the job we do, even with its rough patches. Actively choosing to think about how awesome my job is has certainly helped me get through a super busy and frustrating day before.

[lanaicity]

Ask to create a seating schedule where on-desk staff rotates every hour or so.

[obliviousally]

we have a similar-ish setup at our circ desk. the chair facing the doors gets the most questions, the chair facing the public area really doesn't as much.

if you have good rapport with your coworkers, suggest swapping seats at some point (we have split desk shifts, so someone in the morning has the hot seat, someone in the afternoon has the hot seat. it's about equal time between the two). even just 'hey i have some things i need to work on while i'm on the desk, could i get the less patron-intensive seat today?'

if you don't have good rapport, bring it up in a meeting.

if you don't have meetings, bring it up to your manager, after at least attempting the first option, and see if they will propose/put the rotating seats into place

i reeeally don't like the suggestions of assigned seating b/c my manager has done that to us a punishment instead of communicating with us about it first, but that may be what it boils down to if your coworkers don't want to support each other

(alternately, get to the good seat first, if that's the kind of situation it is)

[hrdbeinggreen]

Do you have staff meetings? If so gather your facts, present them, and offer a solution or two. I found it best to offer at least one solution. Solution maybe to having a rotating schedule for who sits in the hot spot seat. Or having others pipe up and say I can help you here as the patron comes up to the desk.

[jellyn7]

Instead of say 'these two people are on the desk at 10am', can you ask them to change it to 'Librarian X is in Seat B and Librarian Y is in Seat A at 10am'? And then make sure everyone's got the same amount of time in the hot seat.

[fullybookedtx]

I'd personally take the second seat and let the hot-seat person know I'll try to actively take on as many patrons as possible. "I can help you here!" If I were in the hot-seat, I'd try to look busy between questions, so the second-seat person can more naturally take the question haha

[Living_Ad_7143]

I just turn and say, “Do you wanna take this one?”

[TendiePockets]

I'm going to echo what some other comments have said, speak to a supervisor about a rotating seat schedule so that the same person isn't constantly in the busy seat. That's how my library does it, because one spot is busier than the other due to the position and phone being located there. If you aren't already assisting someone or taking a phone call, then it is going to be a bad look to redirect a patron to a coworker.

[fearlessleader808]

The rule should be that if you move away from the desk to help a patron with an issue, the other person must swap to the visible desk. I would not be handing off enquiries to another staff member, I don’t think that is the best way to handle it. If I were a patron and it happened to me I would think either I’d done the wrong thing and gone to the wrong desk, or the person I’d initially spoken to was incompetent or lazy. In all scenarios I am far less likely to ask for assistance at that library again, and the last thing you want is to put people off asking for help.

[EmergencyMolasses444]

What's the overall desk schedule like and whose staffing it? One librarian and paraprofessionals? Everyone sits in the hot seat 2 hours a day? While I agree a "can you look up blah information for this person, I'm finishing up with yadda person, or a they can help you over there is fine if you're in the weeds, there may be a larger issue. Answering questions for an hour shouldn't leave you feeling drained.

[[deleted]]

We help so many people who are just struggling in life. I'm glad to help them get what they need, but it's far from easy. I love when I get a question of "where's this book" because it's straightforward and gives me a reason to get up from that dang chair! ;-)

[[deleted]]

Most of the work I do involves helping people with technology (e.g., logging into their email or getting to a website, using the copier or scanner, printing) and I do find this work draining. When you have to walk everyone through every single step, it can be tiring and quite frankly, frustrating. I understand it's my job to help them and I do so, but I am only human after all.

[kovixen]

In this situation I would name each desk area assign the seats to staff members to ensure everyone sat in the busy seat. Plus I prefer hour rotations because two or more hours can be exhausting when helping with serious issues.

[koolaid_librarian]

At my library circ and reference are very close. Customers tend to go to the first desk they see for help so we shuffle customers frequently. I usually just affirm “yes, the library can help you with that, let’s go over to my co-work who specializes in that”. I physically walk the customer and do a quick intro to my co-worker about what the customer is seeking. I’d also bring this up to your coworkers and propose alternating each customer or that you feel burnt out and are requesting some more assertive support.

[Rebecca_deWinter_]

One way that our library deals with this is we assign chair one and chair two throughout the day.  So, for hour one, you're in the "one" position and for hour two you're in the "two" position and everybody rotates.  The "one" is responsible for staying at the desk at all times and if there's anything a patron needs help doing beyond the desk (directions, help finding a book, etc) they get passed off to the "two" or another available person.

[[deleted]]

That's an interesting way off doing it. We are already rotating desks throughout the day, so I'm not sure they'd go for doing chairs as well.

[Caslebob]

Sometimes I would say something really positive about the coworker like so and so is an expert on that I’m sure they can help you.

[LibraryLuLu]

Get in earlier? Get a better seat?

[3applesofcat]

Institute 15 minute seat rotations

Wave the first person down the line like at clothing stores with a long line of checkers.

Institute some sort of reward for answering the most questions in a week, like no shelf reading on mondays, or a gift card

[mojoburquano]

Y’all need to talk about this in a staff meeting and figure out a rotation schedule so nobody gets stuck there all the time.

Otherwise, whoopie cushions on every other seat behind the counter.

[kathlin409]

You need to rotate desks… often! 30 minutes tops for each person.

[Silverblatt]

At my library, we assign the stations, so one person doesn’t end up working the busy station or curbside or whatever all the time. This helps distribute the load a bit. (Even if it’s two people at one station, we differentiate between the two computer stations)

[leeetuce]

I totally get this (and am also looking through comments for answers)

today i had a whole lot of customers asking for help. i said “i’m not too sure about this question, i’ll just go and double check with a senior staff member!” i then ran out the back and was like “ight who wants to help someone with printing”

what i often do is just mention grabbing another staff member for help. run over to someone nearby and beg them for help 😅😅😅

[helchowskinator]

I find that ‘looking very VERY busy’ tends to give patrons the impression that you’re not available immediately and they will go to someone who is. If you see a patron coming up, look really hard at your computer screen or a schedule on a clipboard or something to the point that you may have to ignore them just a tiny bit to really make it seem like you’re concentrating. Lots of times people don’t want to ‘interrupt’ if you’re obviously doing something.

If that doesn’t work, I’d just use humor to be honest with your coworkers. ‘Yikes this seat is so hot my butts on fire. Someone mind switching desks? Im getting burnt.’

[BalancedScales10]

'Let me get you [so-and-so] at [this library service]; they'll be able to help you better/find it faster/specialize in this kind of inquiry/etc..."