Librarian Interview

Yesterday, June 4, 2009 I conducted my interview with the librarian, Betty Riley at Valdese Public library. Betty currently does not have an MLS degree, but she does hold an educational masters. She has been the librarian for 11 years and has always been in and around the library because her mother was a librarian. She has not officially worked in a school library, but has helped out numerous times. The Valdese library does have a set of guidelines related to behavioral perfomance. Betty had not heard of the RUSA guidelines, but her guidelines were much like the RUSA guidelines. She does follow a set of steps that is layed out for her patrons and for staff to follow and their are steps to follow if these guidelines are broken. She said they get together about every 2 years to review and adjust the guidelines as needed. They look at each area to see if anything needs to be changed or taken out. If someone does not follow her guidelines they begin with a warning and then eventually to a write-up.

Some of the common questions that she receives the most are things on the computer, mapquest, job searches, financial help, NC Live, and novelist for searching authors. Her first major source for looking something up begins with a google search or NC Live. She does enjoy and directing other to print, but it is always according to what the patrons are looking for to determine the right resource.

I asked about the difficult patrons and how she deals with them. She said to always be corgul and nice, let them know that some information isn't going to be found here and she always tries to point them in the right direction. The most rewarding part of being a librarian for Betty is being able to help patrons and provide information to them. Making sure they have the correct resources to help them learn.

I enjoyed getting to know Betty a little more.