Work Experience Library by

Business Overview

4203052 — 2023-07-06 14:32:01 UTC

The Scarborough library ,which is owned by the north Yorkshire council, has the main focus of the library itself being the books allowing the public to enjoy reading for no cost at all but they don't just offer reading. The library also offers a wide range of things outside of what you'd expect, as for example you do not just have to take out books you have the opportunity to take out things like DVDS with there being something for everyone with different genres like crime, history, romance and many others. Along with this the library has private areas for the public to complete work in a bright and relaxed environment, on some of the tables and new pod tables but they can also be used to read in private.

Vision/Values

4203052 — 2023-07-07 08:21:12 UTC

Scarborough's library visions are actually about being an innovative leader in providing a variety of strategies to ensure knowledge, and they promote learning opportunities for people of all ages. But some of the values of the library are as stated one is to be a vibrant and spirited library that demands an outstanding performance in all aspects. Another shared value of the library is to maintain a highly professional standard of staff that can assist with access to the library's information services. One final value of the library is to engage and respectfully consult with the community members and ensure that the broad population have a happy experience. These are just a few of the library's visions and values there are many others to help support the public through any problem and to be named a safe environment for all cultures and any age.

Public establishment

4203052 — 2023-07-07 08:21:28 UTC

The Scarborough Library is a public establishment; they're free to use and take out books as long as you have a library card they offer public services like you can buy books from the library and taking CDS.

Structure of the Library

4203052 — 2023-07-07 08:21:47 UTC

The children area of the library was my main focus of work as, the the library has recently been redesigned by the council who invested into the library to improve its appearance and features. These investments mean there are new parts to the library which has helped appeal to the public and helps the place itself feel more inviting and gives a much more open and modern feeling as there is now a whole area that is specifically for children where it has a multitude of children books, where the children can find books without it feeling too confusing.

Data Protection

4203052 — 2023-09-05 12:37:45 UTC

Data protection plays a very important role in the library as it holds the key information of everyone in the library which must be kept safe and secure and out of reach from the public which is why when we use computers to, for example, sign people up for the library, find books and pay book fines the library has strict procedures put in place that we would have to follow, for example the password for the system that the library used would be changed weekly to stop people from sharing the password. Another procedure we would have to follow is when replacing a library card the individual would have to be able to give their name and date of birth to stop people from getting into others' accounts, also no computer was allowed to be unattended.

Paper Documents Protection

4203052 — 2023-09-05 12:45:43 UTC

While in the library during the summer reading challenge that I worked in we oversaw hundreds of cards with secure and private information that contained names, ages, emails etc. so when we would record the information of the children with the parents we had to make sure that the papers were put back into the organizers which were organized by the first initial of the last name which the organizer could not under any circumstances be left unattended and when it was not in use it had to be stored under a locked cupboard which then at the end of the day would be placed in a secure cupboard in the staff room.

Development

4203052 — 2023-09-11 13:19:03 UTC

From my time in the library I learnt to become better at speaking with people and helping others as before I was nervous about working in an environment that was focused on the public and speaking a lot but by doing this i've learnt to come out my shell and deal with a whole diverse of people from adults, elders and children which is beneficial in a work place as you do have to speak to people and work as a team and i believe the library helped me to work with people from all different backgrounds, ages.

Review overall

4203052 — 2023-09-11 13:22:09 UTC

Overall my time at the library was overwhelmingly positive, as I met great people of all ages and places and still managed to connect and work well with them and of the positives about the library was that no one treated me differently because of age, there was a lot of older people there, but they never treated me differently. Another positive was that during my time at the library, I was always given help when asked and wasn't left to just work things out myself as we were trained to use the computers and learn how to use all the different types of equipment. However, one negative of the library was the fact that a lot of the time I stood still as there were times when it wasn't as busy as usual.

Future Development

4203052 — 2023-09-19 10:23:04 UTC

My time at the library, helped me realize what kind of future career I want to do as it opened me up to an actual working environment which made me realize that I want to study Criminology and Psychology as I like to work with the public and learning about how people behave and because of my time at the library it got me to observe people and different behaviours and witness people from all different places and ages.

Employability skills

4203052 — 2023-09-19 10:35:25 UTC

At the library one of the employability skills I gained is customer service which is an essential skill as no matter where you work you will end up dealing with people in one form or another Before At the library I struggled with communication but after my time there I gained the confidence in my ability to speak with people I don't know personally.

4203052 — 2023-09-20 15:55:37 UTC

4203052 — 2023-09-20 15:56:19 UTC

Staff roles and responsibility

4203052 — 2023-09-20 17:14:34 UTC

At the library, there are a variety of staff roles and responsibilities that the staff have to follow to make sure that the public is happy and safe. The roles can range from individual roles to group roles. For example, as a part of the staff in the library, everyone is expected to have basic manners, like having a friendly attitude and always smiling, but some other staff roles include that every week the staff will have a meeting to go over policies and new procedures or anything new that has been added within the library, but there is also the responsibility that if there is a fire alarm, the staff will escort everyone out of the building first.

Products and Services

4203052 — 2023-09-20 18:18:20 UTC

The library offers a variety of Products and services as normally you would just expect the library to only give away books, but they offer the ability to buy books as well for example in the children's area parents can choose to buy the books and keep them, but this is also an applied for adults with more options available, but then the library also offers many services like for example, the part I helped in was the summer reading challenge which encouraged the children to come and read 6 books over the 6-week holidays so, for example, the library offers gifts for every 2 books you read so, for example, if a child reads all 6 books then they're granted a certificate, a medal, all 6 stickers, bookmark, door hanger, but they don't just offer the reading challenge as the library also holds activities daily so, for example, on the first day they had a freedman give a talk that was completely free for anyone to enter to hear his story and him talking about his new book they also offered face painting, group reading and a lot of other services.

Equality and Diversity

4203052 — 2023-09-21 14:55:58 UTC

The library is an inclusive space for any gender, race, age or vulnerable people as the library follows the protected characteristics and makes sure anyone under that law is not mistreated. The Library also has to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimization (this also covers marriage and civil partnerships) They also have to make sure to promote equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; and they have to encourage good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Health and Safety and Security

4203052 — 2023-09-21 14:56:12 UTC

The library has a variety of security health and safety one of the most important and essential is the CTTV/Surveillance of the building as the library has CCTV at the front, and back all around to protect and capture anything bad that happens which acts as a deterrence for crime, but it covers health and safety too. The library will also ensure that everyone will be given the best quality of care as there are many first aid kits the staff will keep around to protect the public. Also for security, the library has locks on each cupboard and will regularly change every system password and door lock code.

Customer Service

4203052 — 2023-09-22 15:50:59 UTC

Overall the library's customer service is essential as it is the focal point of the business, so the library will always ensure that customer service will be top quality this is shown as the staff are always positive, kind and friendly to each member of the public as through my time there we were always made sure to be the best we can to the public and help any member no matter what one example of how the library ensures this is when someone came to me looking for a certain book I made sure to check the library resources to see if we had it in stock and then helped them find the book as we will always make sure that every customer is happy. The code of conduct is also similar as it just ensures that the customers are all happy under any circumstance as the customer will always be placed in high regard and importance.

Day in the life

4203052 — 2023-10-12 11:48:45 UTC

The day of the life of a librarian is before they even get employed at the library. They'll need to have an interest in literature as they will be working with books often, and they will also be required to have great customer service skills and patience as they're working directly with the public. But on a normal working day as a librarian, you'd arrive and be expected to sign in and wear your lanyard. You would also be expected to work with the customers of the library, of course, dealing with books, shelving them, and adding new books to the system, but you'd also be expected to deal with any events coming up, as, for example, if there is someone doing a guest speaking, you'd be expected to help set that up and arrange when they will be coming, how much time they'll need, and what equipment they'll need. You will also be expected to do things when dealing with customers, like helping them sign up for the library or paying for books they wish to buy.

Terms and conditions

4203052 — 2023-10-12 11:50:58 UTC

The terms and conditions of the library are that, you'd be expected to tell the librarian, Heather, what days you would prefer to be on work experience and what time frame you would work. For example, I did work experience on Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. (10 p.m. on a Tuesday) to 2 p.m. If you were ill, you were either expected to email Hayley or Fiona a day prior, but if it was on short notice, you would phone the library explaining your absence. The place of work is based in Scarborough, so you would be expected to show up there.

Day 1

4203052 — 2023-11-08 12:09:06 UTC

On the first Saturday of my work experience, we all had been assigned different tasks, and I had been assigned the task of signing everyone who had come into the library up for the summer reading challenge by using cards, writing down the parents emails, phone numbers, and the children's first and last name, along with the school they attended and their age. After signing them up for the reading challenge, you would give them the reading challenge leaflet, which would explain the basics of the reading challenge, and there was a sticker chart they would follow. I had signed up around 20–30 children on the first day, and after having a break, we were offered to help set up the event of the reading challenge of a book by Dan Freedman, who would speak about how he became an author to the children. Once we had helped set this up, we would then direct the people on where to go to the event, and after his talk, we went home.

Day 2

4203052 — 2023-11-09 16:23:01 UTC

On my second day of work experience at the library, we continued to work signing people up for the reading challenge as mentioned in day 1. I specifically worked on learning how to sort out the books in a specific order by age group and reading level, also based on fiction and nonfiction books. Between putting new books into the new kids section and then signing people up, I also spoke to a higher-up in the library, asking for my opinion on the new development of the library and giving him my insight.

Day 3

4203052 — 2023-11-09 16:27:25 UTC

During day three of work experience at the library, we were offered to learn how to actually use the library computers to make it easier and our job faster to sign people up for the reading challenge by using their library card with the scanner and then writing down the details that were already logged onto the system. We were also taught how to register someone to the library by essentialy just scanning an unused library card and inserting their specific details onto the system, then just giving them their new card. We were also taught how to deal with money, for example, if someone wanted to purchase a book, we were taught how to do exactly that.

Day 4

4203052 — 2023-11-09 16:34:14 UTC

During day 4 of work experience, I took advantage of the recently learned skills, which made signing people up for the reading challenge much more helpful and easier, as we could simply scan up their library card while another person would copy their details, and then I'd give out the leaflet and give the information to the parent and child as well as a sticker so we wouldn't waste and take up too much time with the family, but specifically on this day, a customer asked for help finding a certain book. I checked the library's system using the computer and checked the system to see if Scarborough Library had provided and had this book, but after checking, it had already been taken out by somebody else, so I informed the customer kindly that it had been taken, but I showed them some other similar books we may have instead!

Day 5

4203052 — 2023-11-09 16:38:27 UTC

On my first day of work, it had been very similar with signing people up for the reading challenge. Using the computers, there were in fact some changes in that more people had been coming back to complete the summer reading challenge, meaning we were taught how to print off the certificate and give them their medal too we had throughout the day given people their rewards. I also had helped an elderly customer who needed help finding books suitable for children to teach them some manners and to be polite, so me and my friend and I searched through the bookshelf and small cabinets to find a good selection of books, which we brought back to her, and she praised us, thanking us for the help.

Library Refurbishment

4203052 — 2023-11-09 16:43:25 UTC

Part of the main reason for the bigger success of the summer reading challenges was the newly refurbished library, which was funded by North Yorkshire County, in which they invested £450,000 to create a brighter and more welcoming environment. It also made a completely new welcoming area for the children to play in happily but also enjoy reading, as well as a bigger community space with new tables with charging ports so people can do their work.

Management

4203052 — 2023-11-09 16:47:00 UTC

The library itself just has collective volunteers, but the ones who oversee the library's development and hiring of volunteers are Fiona Bennett and Heather French. Heather was the one who initially spoke us through our role in the library before we became volunteers, Fiona dealt with absences, and Mark would deal with problems within the library as well as gaining feedback and doing most of the general work as well as sorting events.