Let’s Talk About REAL Customer Service: How We Increased Circulation by 300 Percent

Abstract

We hear it all the time – good customer service here, exceptional service there – but are we really practicing it? What is good customer service and why should we even bother with it in library land? How do we get our team of student workers on board? What library trends actually make a difference? At Chippewa Valley Technical College in Wisconsin we took customer service to a completely different level. In 2014 I “stumbled” into a leadership position at the College’s library and it was a blast from the past. Imagine airport customer service and department of motor vehicle customer service mixed – yikes! With very little library staff and lot of love, learn how we transformed the image of the library through customer service and increased our circulation over 300 percent at a time when many of the nation’s academic libraries are seeing a downward trend.