This piece of advice ties directly to last week’s about how the absolute most vital piece of advice I’ve received in my 15+ years as a librarian is to do what you can to solve the problem of the person standing in front of you.
In library school, I think I saw a stat that something like 90% of people think of “books” when they hear the word “library”. But as a great manager pointed out to me long ago, that’s a complete red herring.
Books are what people think we’re about but the reality is “helping” people is what we’re really about in libraries. Sure, sometimes that means helping them find the book they want but it might also mean helping them find a job. Or to become a Canadian citizen. Or to find treatment for their addictions. Or a million other ways that we find ways to help.