Librarians as providers of “legendary” customer service

Abstract

Purpose

There has been a great deal of emphasis on the concept of “Legendary” customer service in the private sector these days. This concept has been reaching into more public sector organizations in recent years. Loosely defined as the pinnacle of outstanding service presently demonstrated by only a handful of recognized companies, when one examines many of the attributes of this model of service, many libraries have already adopted their own versions of it. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the environment in which librarians are providing the “Legendary” customer service model as emphasized in the private sector as a best practice, thus validating the profession's continued relevance.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach takes the form of a literature review and commentary on this topic that is now being addressed by colleagues.

Findings

With the increase in patron expectations fulfilled by librarians daily, the “Legendary” service model becomes even more important to validate the example of quality customer service, so that the debate regarding the relevance of the profession is silenced once and for all.

Originality/value

The value in addressing this issue is to recognize that the new model of customer service is already embedded into the work of today's librarians.

Citation

Massis, B.E. (2010), "Librarians as providers of “legendary” customer service", New Library World, Vol. 111 No. 9/10, pp. 434-438. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801011089350