Adventures in Secret Shopping

On Friday, January 23, I took my husband and daughter to a nearby library for my RA Secret Shopper assignment.  It was a library I had never been to before, so I felt that would add to my ‘lost patron’ persona.  Upon entering the building, I saw a large ceiling sign that said “Check-out” hanging over some self-check stations.  The Children’s area was to my immediate right.  The Teen area was found along the middle right of the room.  On the left hand side, another large ceiling sign said “Ask Here.”  Two staff members were seated below the sign at a desk.

I spent a few minutes roaming around.  The library is currently in the middle of shifting their collection.  I went in search of a book for the Mystery annotation assignment and the mystery shelves were empty.  I double-checked the computer to make sure the book I wanted was there.  I then spotted a staff member with a full cart and located the new area for Mysteries.  I made a comment about moving the mysteries.  The staff member smiled and nodded, but did not ask whether I needed any help finding a book.  I smiled, moved to the next range over and found my book, roamed around some more, and then headed to the “Ask Here” desk.

The staff member looked up right away and asked me how she could help me.  I explained that I had been on a reading spree lately and that I was having trouble finding something else to read.  I told her that I really loved romantic suspense and was hoping she would have some suggestions because I felt like I had read EVERYTHING.  She smiled and asked me to take a seat beside her.  Her computer was a large screen Mac so we were both able to see the screen.

She started off by pointing to my mystery book and telling me what a great book it was, giving me a synopsis without giving anything away.  She then told me that the library’s catalog was linked to Novelist which is a database that gives reading suggestions.  The first question she asked me was to give her the name of a title or author that I had last read.  I mentioned that I had gone through all of the Janet Evanovich books and had also read everything by Stephanie Bond.  She had not heard of Stephanie Bond so she started there.  I pointed out a title I had read and she clicked on it.  She went through the process of scrolling down and pointing out the Novelist information, including 4-8 suggested read-alikes.  Some of the read-alikes were farfetched and she agreed that it wasn’t perfect.

Above:  Screenshot of the Library Catalog - Novelist suggestions

For some of the read-alikes, I mentioned that I had already read them.  For others, I said that I had tried them, but I hadn’t really enjoyed them.  She asked me what it was about the Bond and Evanovich books I liked. I told her I enjoyed humor infused with the romance and suspense elements.  She switched from Bond to Evanovich and we went through a few more titles.  The suggestions were closer to what I like to read, but they were still limiting depending on the record.  She then showed me how to find Novelist via their database listing (http://libraryforlife.org/our-databases) to cross-reference books or titles the library may not own.

Before the interview concluded, the staff member also mentioned the Book Talkers book club that is held at the library the third Monday of the month at 11:00 a.m.  The book club is actually more of a readers’ advisory round table than a book club where a specific title is assigned.  I told her I might have to play hooky from work and check it out some time!  She gave me a post-card sized advertisement for the book club and I told her that I would try some searches myself on the computer near the mystery books.

Overall, I felt the transaction was extremely successful. I felt bad going in and being “sneaky,” so I don’t think my career will be in secret shopping anytime soon.  Towards the end of the interview, I did tell her I was working on my Master’s degree (I just didn’t specify library science however!).  The staff member was very pleasant, definitely not condescending in any way, and very interested in showing me the extras available in the catalog.  Admittedly, since MPHPL uses the same catalog, I had knowledge that Novelist was linked to the catalog, but I didn’t realize the full extent of its usefulness until today!  I’ve always showed patrons Novelist via our databases page rather than our catalog.  In the future, I will be incorporating more training via the catalog so the patrons do not have to leave one search tool for another or toggle between the tools.  The staff member/librarian listened very well to me and just from her calm, relaxed manner I do feel that she has a lot of experience and/or training in RA.  If there was really anything missing from the whole experience, it would be that she didn’t give me her name and I didn’t see a nametag. 

By the time the interview wrapped up, I had to pull my husband and toddler away from the teen area where my husband was teaching my daughter the fine art of playing NBA on the Xbox 360.  (Huge flat screen TVs – I’m so jealous!).  I went back to a catalog and did some trial searches myself.  I didn’t hang out at the catalog long and I left with only the book I initially grabbed.  The staff member had moved on to another project at this time. 

Overall, while the staff member/librarian did not use any print resources, I think the sources she offered were the best for my needs and she got bonus points for plugging a related program.