A Love Letter to Access Services
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1844Keywords:
Oregon, Oregon libraries, academic library, libraries, librarians, northwest, information science, information literacy, social media, writing, library trends, books, donors, library funding, Oregon library association, quarterly, Oregon library association quarterly, American library association, ala, ola, reading, library success, success, evolving roles, new discipline, changes in libraries, career, careers, library careers, library career, new department, University of Oregon, student workers, library kits, spring, 2016, access services, professional journal, scholarly, academic, circulation, public, angela weyrens, fun, love letter, engineAbstract
Access Services, I do love you, ever so. You are my best and most favorite work relationship (although since we’re being honest, certainly not my first). I believe in you: your purpose, presence, and importance, your sheer scale and volume. You embody the basic, very important parts of the engine that keeps the library moving forward. Check in, check out, shelve, retrieve, make accessible that which is disordered, create a card, manage a troubled account, say hello to new members of the community, and wish them well when they leave. You do so many things expertly, efficiently, and with the grace acquired by long, repeated practice and embracing enduring standards.
So, my feelings for you are based on all your fabulous and quantifiable traits. But there are a few things I’m hoping we can talk about that have been bugging me. As much as I love and admire you just the way you are, I do stay up some nights worrying about the future.