Our shining prizes tell our story only partly

Espoo City Library is the proud receiver of International Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2019. We have created welcoming spaces and innovative service. This is true and I am very proud of our personnel!

London Book Fair: International Excellence Awards 2019

So what is the rest of the story? Excellent results, our patrons love us and award to show off. We were also chosen as the Best City of Library Service in Finland last year! From the inside the view is colourful and cheerful as well – the dark part of the story are the shadows created by the cheerful.

Speedy let’s_do_this-kind of events and culture of always_saying_yes produce also chaos in the shift planning for opening time and regular customer service. Lack of purposeful structures for planning ahead results in bad quality of service. I personally think that quick responses and happy attitude to new possibilities is a must if a library wants to be of service. But not everything can be in the heat of the moment.

The predictability of service and well-being of personnel depend on well-planned yet flexible structures, predictability in leadership and developing process for service, excellence in communication out and inwards. These are our weak points. I’m not saying we don’t have any but I claim we are not good enough. Also following up on results and effectivity is not at an accurate level.

Is this something that libraries share as an attribute or is it just us?