I'm in the Adult Services area ok? Usually adults come see me when they need help. But I get an unusual number of children asking me questions. Why aren't they asking the children's librarian at the other end of the building? I usually have to walk them back down there anyway to answer their question. I walk right by the children's librarian.
Our library's policy is that once a question is asked you stay with the patron (no matter how small) until the question is answered.
So I can't figure out why I have so many kids asking questions on the opposite side of the building from where they originate.
And then I observed one night......a child and his mother asking a question of the children's librarian.. It was so sad, a grumpy "hmmph" was mostly what they got and a brief answer, a brief attempt at help. A few minutes later the mother & child came down to my end.
During Thomas Jefferson's presidency he & a group of travelers were crossing a river swollen with rain. Each man crossed on horseback fighting for his life. A lone traveler watched the group traverse the treacherous river and asked President Jefferson to take him across. The president agreed without hesitation, the man climbed on, and the two made it safely across. One in the group asked the traveler, "Why did you select the President to ask this favor?" The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the President of the United States who had carried him safely across. "All I know," he said, "is that on some of your faces was written the answer 'No' and on some of them was the answer 'Yes.' His was a 'Yes' face."
(adapted from The Grace Awakening (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 1990).)
My husband told me this story and suggested that maybe I had a 'Yes' face. It's so important for us who's job it is to help people find what they need to have a 'Yes' face.
Nonetheless it's still irritating when I see someone whose JOB it is to help someone NOT do their job. And be irritable while they're not doing their job!
So today's question is, do YOU have a yes face?
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1 comment:
I think this is a remarkable post because it is SO true. I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed patrons bypass a person who is supposed to be answering question but looks busy, distracted, or unwelcoming and asked someone with a smile.
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