I have been watching (with great interest) both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention.  Regardless of your personal party affiliation, you gotta admit, this has been fascinating.  As a PR professional, I listen carefully to the speeches (often written by someone other than the person speaking), the selection of words, the phrasing, the “facts” as they are presented.  I assume that the speech writers do what I do–check and double check that the information is, indeed, factual.  Unfortunately, not everyone is as diligent as I am about checking and double checking.   If you want to check the fact’s on Bubba’s speech last night, please do. Heck, check the facts on all of Election 2012…it is so very good to know what is fact and what is not.

But the election is not the point.  I am not interested in a political debate (good gravy, haven’t we all had enough of that?).  I am interested in public service.  What it means, how it is funded, how it is executed.  How many times have you walked away from a public institution and felt utterly deflated?  From the DMV to public schools to yes, even libraries, the service is not always superior.  We tell ourselves that we don’t expect it to be, that we are not “paying” for these services like we would “pay” at a restaurant and tip our servers but that is actually not the case.  The library is not a free service, it is a service that you have pre-paid with your tax dollars (assuming that you are an ethical, law abiding citizen who pays their taxes diligently and on time).  So why should the level of service be any lower than it would be anywhere else?

Here is where the disconnect comes in:

Librarians CARE about public service a great deal.  Most library professionals really care about providing information to the public and take great pains to ensure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.  I have seen my colleagues work themselves to the bone and still take flack from disgruntled patrons who can be not only rude but verbally abusive.

But sometimes, librarians are not very nice.  They do not smile when a patron approaches the counter.  Some do not believe in the active promotion of library service (am told marketing is unseemly, even soulless).  Librarians often do not “sell” the vital importance of libraries and worse yet, they may even provide such curt service that a patron does not return (until they have to…).  And some, believe that fact checking and accuracy are more important than a great customer service experience.

I am so often perplexed that people who are so committed to public service can be so poor at delivering that service.

So what can we learn from politicians about service?  About authenticity?  About cooperation?

I am not suggesting we become politicians (perish the thought).  I am suggesting that perception is everything.  From politics to public service, a positive experience can go a very long way and I am going to continue to try to figure out how to translate the commitment to public service into a great customer service experience.