Creating a Telephone Reference Service During a Pandemic - and Making it Last

If social distancing and COVID closures have you looking to strengthen your virtual customer services, come learn about Prince George’s County Memorial Library Service’s experience creating a centralized telephone service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, all PGCMLS library branches were closed indefinitely, so “shovel ready” plans for a centralized telephone reference service were put into action. Taking full advantage of the library system’s existing Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone system, teleworking staff were trained and equipped to answer phone calls, and our new Ask a Librarian telephone service was launched in May 2020. Without rehearsals or BETA testing, we worked out solutions to unanticipated problems, adapted to ongoing changes in library services, and created a responsive and resilient service that has changed the nature of communication in our library system’s information services.

This presentation will also address how telephone service can help bridge the digital divide and language barriers between customers and resources, and how quality customer service - combined with enhanced intra-staff communication - can build and sustain community trust. Prince George’s County, Maryland is one of the most diverse suburbs of the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, and our library staff live in and serve a majority-minority community with a large immigrant population which includes households ranging from some of the wealthiest to most economically challenged in Maryland. The 2020 pandemic, as well as contemporary racial justice and immigrant rights movements, spotlighted and supported the need for all our library services to prioritize equity and inclusion, and this has informed the development of Ask a Librarian at PGCMLS.

You’ll also learn about our interactive staff training modules for reference services, our supervisory Lead Agent program, the Spanish-language Biblio Consulta service, and communication tips to support internal and external customer service quality and consistency.

Sponsored by RUSA-RSS