Interview with a Professional Librarian

Today (6/2/09) I went the Newton, NC Public Library to pick up some books that I had placed on hold. While there I asked the customer service rep if I may speak to a reference librarian about the project for LIB5020 and interview. She immediately sent me to Regina Reitzel, one on the five professional librarians at that branch, who runs the librarian-information studies desk. She received her MLS for UNC Greensboro and has worked for the Newton Library for a little over four years now. She was more than willing to answer all of my questions and had quite a pleasant personality, she really knew her RUSA guidelines. I asked her many questions about the local patronage; who are they? what are they looking for? how has the economy affected the library? and many more. She told me that the busiest times for them were Mondays and Tuesdays and that most of their patrons were wanting to use the Internet or learn how to use it. Job seekers made up a lot of the daily patronage many of whom do not have access to the web at home. She said unfortunately many of the job seekers are older and do not have any knowledge of the web or how to access websites for job seekers. Most of her time was spent answering questions related to the web and applying for jobs via the web. She did note that teenagers probably made up their smallest percent of patrons. The economy has affected the library, they are seeing an increase in patrons but have had their budget cut significantly this year (5-10%). I asked about frustrated people having a hard time locating what they are looking for and are they regularly upset. She had a great explanation for frustrated people. They are people who come in after finding what they are looking for on the web, head immediately for the stacks, and in turn are immediately lost. She said people automatically think they can find something in a library as easy as they can on the web and it is not until they lose all patience that they come to her. Also many upset patrons are having trouble applying for jobs on the web and have recently lost their job. I asked about what she uses more, electronic or print media? She said it was about "50/50" and when it came to encyclopedias and dictionaries they rarely even use the printed format. They did not even know if they were going to order the newest editions this coming year. The most stressful part of her job is helping people navigate the web who had little to no knowledge of computers. And last but not least her strangest request ever was a women who wanted information on the money to be made donating eggs and how often she could do it. She said that it was interesting finding all the information on how to donate eggs and sperm. I will go back to speak with her more and she even wanted to know if I was interested in becoming an intern or volunteer. She said I need to get my foot in the door! She was a great librarian in my point of view!