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What it means to be a customer service bibliographer at YBP
by Sonya Detwiler, Customer Service Bibliographer

I was employed as a customer service bibliographer for the international division at YBP over 5 years ago. My prior experience as a reference librarian involved helping customers; a skill I enjoyed most; a skill I knew I'd use daily in my new job at YBP. Many of our bibliographers do not come from a previous customer service background, but we all have one thing in common…we enjoy helping people.

There is also an analytic component to our job, i.e. problem-solving. And, as you can imagine with all the new technologies and constant change in the library field, problem-solving is very stimulating and gives us opportunities to learn everyday. Many times we are learning right there with our customers. Things change only weeks before they are made public, so we are fumbling through the newness, just like our customers, until a new skill is learned. It helps to have a healthy sense of humor in this job and to not be afraid of making mistakes. As long as you hold yourself accountable and fix the mistake in the end, most mistakes serve as great learning catalysts.

I correspond almost daily with some of my customers. I've seen some evolve, some dissolve, and some I've developed friendships with over the years. We share experiences from both our work and personal lives. We exchange photos, gifts, advice; discuss hobbies, family crises, changes going on around us. After working with our librarians for so many years, boundaries often fade away, and a sincere trust happens between us.

On occasion, we are given the opportunity to meet our customers in person. This most always is a delightful experience that only strengthens our relationship with each other and creates history and memories, not to be forgotten like an email or phone call.

As part of working for a competitive, cutting-edge company, customer service bibliographers at YBP also pride themselves on offering high quality service in a speedy and professional manner. We are advocates for our customers and many times are the voices that repeat themselves until a new service is implemented to improve our customer's workflow, which responds to a request, a need in the libraries we work with.

I won't paint an all too rosy picture. Sometimes our job is difficult. We face deadlines, pressure, and disappointment-like anyone else. We are not always the messengers of good news. Sometimes, we are limited in what we can do for certain customer requests. But, I have lost count of the number of times that I've been able to 'bend the rules', so to speak, for my customer to be happy, to feel listened to. Many sacrifices are made to keep a good customer a customer, or to secure trust from a new customer. It is inspiring to work for a company that holds this attitude. It wants to make it work for its customers. It listens to its customers, as an entity. So…in a sense, this makes my job easier. I'm not on an island all on my own. I'm working in a team environment.

Some of you reading this are my actual customers, my colleagues and my coworkers. I hope you will agree with me when I say this. Working in customer service at YBP is a noble profession. It brings a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives when we are able to help others. And, if I may be biased here, what better clientele than libraries and their librarians?! Aren't librarians the conveyors of knowledge and the humans who help others find information? Again, this in itself makes my job easier.

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