From Kathy's blog 10/1/08: Give people a break. The break you probably deserve yourself. People are out to do good, 99% of the time. You probably are too. Say thanks out loud and a lot. Try making someone’s day. Chances are they’ll make yours in return.

PVLD’s, “Cultural Quake” is designed to “shake up” and reinvigorate the staff by providing a new, comprehensive understanding of PVLD’s vision of public services within the library. By clearly defining all public service policies and procedures, a foundation will be created for facilitating an internal culture shift toward the idea that providing exceptional customer service is paramount in the operations of the Library District. This effort will empower staff to contribute to the success of each patron visit. The expected benefit is exceptional customer service that is extended to all areas of library service, including the creation of a more user-centered collection in terms of contents and organization and greater customer awareness of library services and programs.

Redefine policies and procedures to be customer focused and to use our technology to the fullest advantage Standardize the practices used at all branches of the Library District Create a procedures manual, and establish ongoing practices for updating it Train staff in a consistent and comprehensive manner, and establish this as an ongoing practice Facilitate an internal shift toward a culture that embraces customer service as the paramount objective of the Library District Engage all employees as knowledgeable advocates for, and promoters of, PVLD services and programs

Created a comprehensive survey of services using Survey Monkey Included sections for: patron demographics, customer satisfaction with the library staff, facilities, technology, website, and programs The results of the survey will serve as a benchmark for annual surveys going forward The results showed that we scored in the above average and excellent ratings in all areas, but there is significant room to move toward all excellent ratings Created a wiki for a new procedures manual Accessible at all staff workstations through a login Covers all aspects of service to the public including circulation and reference Contracted with InfoPeople to provide customer service training Training was very successful with over 80% of staff attending and we received lots of positive comments

Complete the “philosophy” portion of the procedures manual Provide in-house staff training on the new customer service philosophy Roll out monthly quizzes for the entire Library District staff General District questions for all staff and more technical questions and procedures for the service desk staff Complete the procedural portion of the procedures manual Implement a tracking system for complaints

80% of all staff will attend the “Fully Engaged Customer Service” training provided by InfoPeople DONE! “Excellent” ratings on next survey (1/1/10) is increased by 10% All staff will be completing one on-line survey each month, beginning 9/9/09 New policy and procedure manual will be in place New staff will be given comprehensive customer service overview upon hiring

Incredible personal experience for both of us The project has been pretty much on time (designing and formatting the manual has been biggest challenge) It has expanded to include all staff in the training, not just service desk staff It’s part of our strategic plan! Our Eureka goals have been adopted as District goals!