Warehouse or Water Cooler

There are two ways of looking at the library.  On is to look at it as essentially a collection of resources.  In this schema, emphasis is put on the technical services of acquiring resources, organizing them and putting them within the reach of the patrons.  In this view, the library is essentially a warehouse and librarians are essentially charged with distribution.

The second way is to see the library as essentially a service industry.  In this way of looking at the library, emphasis is placed on the patrons' experiences.  In this model, the librarian is not essentially a clerk but is a mentor, an sage and a teacher.  In this model, the user plays the central role.  If a patron has a good experience, then the librarian was successful, if the experience was not good, then the librarian failed.

The second model is particularly important for small libraries which may not have ready access to a vast number of resources.  In this case, relationships are all important.  The librarian must seem trustworthy.  He or she must be a friend and guide to the patron.  In this case, even if the requested resources may not be immediately placed in the hands of the patron, the patron leaves with a good feeling about the library and is more willing to wait until his resources arrive.

Relationships must be build as well as collections.  The librarian must be as much a "water cooler" librarian as he or she is a task oriented person.  We must be willing to be interrupted by people and be willing to give them the time to form that bond with us.  This may seem like wasting time, but it is invaluable to the overall success of the library.  A librarian who works on his relationships with his patrons may be described as "the best librarian ever" even if he or she is in a relatively resource-poor library.