By far, the most important qualities for good service at the desk are approachability, interest in helping the patron, and good listening skills. Really listening to the patron can help guide you in many ways.

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The other primary areas to be covered in training are listed below:

• Customer service - be courteous and respectful of patrons and colleagues
• Citation assistance - assist users in formatting a given citation in one of the major styles, for example, MLA, APA, Chicago
• Resource discovery - locating items in our catalog or databases. Assist patrons getting started on using the libraries resources for a basic research activity
• Directional assistance - direct patrons to appropriate shelf or branch locations in the library, as well as important campus locations
• Basic circulation functions: retrieve Course Reserve and ILL materials, check materials in and out
• Refer appropriately - identify appropriate subject librarians for referrals for more in-depth research activity
• Housekeeping - be prompt to your scheduled shifts, and keep your availability and preferences up-to-date in the scheduling software
• Confidentiality and Privacy - know and abide by the privacy guidelines [where are these] for handling protected personal information of students, faculty, staff and library patrons.