Today’s service environment is more daunting than ever for front-of-house staff as well as supervisors. In this interactive and upbeat workshop, we will consider how patron expectations have been reshaped over the past 20 years and discuss de-escalation, boundary-setting, and constructive confrontation techniques to assist staff with navigating challenging patron transactions, both in the moment and afterwards. Participants will discover how to move on from uncomfortable conversations and gain insight into how to coach others to do the same in order to raise the service game of your organization.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand how the customer service landscape has changed over time
• Increase confidence in tackling uncomfortable interactions and coaching colleagues to do the same
• Develop strategies to promote a culture of day-to-day transactional resilience

About the Presenters:

Alicia Collumbell currently serves as the Outreach & Partnership Specialist for Nassau Library System on Long Island where she works with member libraries as they enhance their services to state-specified target populations, develop partnerships with social service agencies, and bolster provision of adult learning experiences. Additionally, she provides library services to the county correction center on a continuous basis. As part of her work, Alicia offers ongoing virtual and in-person workshops to library staff on a variety of professional topics, pulling from her extensive experience as an adult services and outreach librarian in public libraries.

Nicole Scherer currently serves as an Assistant Director at Nassau Library System, where she supports 54 independent member libraries in their public service and future planning endeavors. She has facilitated workshops on the many facets of customer service in libraries across New York State and at regional and national conferences. Nicole has also presented on intellectual freedom concerns, policy development, patron recruitment and retention, advocacy, and escape room design. She was formerly the first-ever Head of Teen Services at the Fairfield Public Library in Connecticut. Nicole holds an Advanced Certificate in Library Administration from Long Island University.

Please note: This session is being presented by the Central NY Library Resources Council. The link shown below will take you directly to the registration page; select NNYLN as your ESLN region.