Wednesday, June 25, 2008

When a Reporter Calls...

The phone rings at the library, you pick it up and offer a friendly salutation and an offer of assistance. The person on the other line is not a patron, but Joe Reporter from the local newspaper. What do you do next? Freeze? Set down the phone and run? No, our tendencies towards customer service may compel us to help out this lost soul who needs “just a little information…”

STOP! The only help you need to offer the reporter is to refer them to the Communications Department. Your standard answer – no matter how persistent that person is – is to direct him to either Nicolle Davies or Jessica Sherrick, or another available Communications staff person. We would be happy to take the reporter’s call and find the information they need. Whether this reporter’s inquiry is seemingly innocuous or he is on the offense from the beginning – you can hand him off to Communications to determine the best response or course of action.

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