The British Library - Reader Registration

First off, The British Library calls its users "Readers", which is the most elegant answer I've seen yet to the user/patron/customer dilemma. The capital R gives dignity to the library user and puts them on par with the Library Director. The print bias in Reader must be the reason it hasn't been adopted more widely, but print is still used to access all types of materials and Reader is much catchier than Information and Entertainment Seeker.

Ok, so the British Library has great front line service, which I think is down to staffing practices and systems. One system that knocked my socks off was Readers Registration which ran more smoothly than even the UK version of the DMV (which is pretty damn impressive, but off-topic). The lobby has overhead signs, maps and an information desk which point prospective Readers toward the registration room, conveniently located near the toilets. At the entry to the room, there is a reception desk, a number of computer stations to the left of the desk, some round seating poufs in the middle of the room and manned desks around the perimeter of the room.

The person at the reception desks greets prospective Readers, checks that they have the proper id, and sends them over to the computer stations. This person also helps Readers whose cards have just expired (they can get a one day pass) and regretfully informs people without the proper id that they will have to return another day. Apparently there are no exceptions to the rules of the house, so the answers to questions are quite straightforward, although dealing with emotional fallout from rebuffed researchers may not be. If the receptionist is busy or away, as was the case when I arrived, the computer stations are well-signed. It was obvious that I should sit down and start entering my personal information.

Business, personal or academic, as long as you have a research purpose you can become a Reader. The hardest part of the online application process was deciding which research purpose was most valid. After I entered basic contact and affiliation information, the system provided a case number. I guess ideally the case number would be printed out on a little tab of paper, but there are reminders everywhere to write down your number when it is provided. The powers that be must have decided against the pitfalls of using last names for case identification.

So then I sat on a pouf (grey or blue I think, my impression is that everything was done in soothing neutrals), and waited briefly for a desk person to call my number. This registration staff member was excellent, first verifying my research purpose, then discussing the period of my Reader's card and renewal, then taking my photograph and producing the card. The standard Reader's card is valid for 1 year, but librarians who are members of CILIP (more on that soon) get 3 years. Finally, a map was unfolded and the staff member recommended starting my research in the Humanities 2 Reading Room, which has open shelves of Library and Information Science materials. But first, it was explained, I would need to go downstairs and transfer my pencil, paper and wallet into a clear plastic bag, leaving the rest in a locker.

So off I trotted to the locker room, then to the recommended reading room... Well, no, actually.

On my way out of the Registration room, I spied another bank of computers in what looked like a small training area on the other side of the reception desk. No one was in there, but instructions were printed on the wall, and the computers had tutorials explaining how to log onto the Catalog for the first time, use the Catalog to request materials, and requests processing. I love learning new systems, so I followed through the process and quickly realized that materials could be ordered online days ahead of time and would be waiting whichever Reading room was requested. Bliss. Strangely, no one else was in the training area with me. I later learned that this is about to change.

I can't remember the statistics, but The British Library provides thousands of Readers cards each month. Regardless of how great the on-line tutorials are, many of these Readers want personal instruction in how to use the Catalog and the Reading room system (remember, they're not all librarians, or even people with a Meyers-Briggs type of INTJ or something). Readers needing basic instruction have been overwhelming the librarians working in the Reading Rooms, dragging them away from inquiries that require specialist subject knowledge.

Should basic personal instruction be provided by the librarians in the Reading rooms, or should the library staff in the registration room be training Readers? A really familiar question in many libraries! According to the staff I talked to, the matter has been settled (unsurprisingly) in favor of training Readers in the registration room. Of course all kinds of specialist questions will come up during that training, and that registration room was busy during my visit, while some of the reading rooms were not...but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I guess I would recommend that the librarians take turns staffing the training area in the registration room.

Postscript, or how The British Library made me cry:
The Treasures collection in the St. Pancras library building displays the letters of Jane Austen, the Magna Carta, Queen Elizabeth I's instructions etc etc. I goggled at everything indiscriminately. Then my eyes filled with tears when I deciphered the jagged writing of Robert Scott's final journal entry from the expedition he led to the South Pole. The journal ends with the diagonally scrawled words "For Gods sake protect my people".