Who are you?

Should librarians have to wear nametags? Some say it is just asking for trouble.

In this article, Stephen Abram, A SirsiDynix VP, had this to say…

“If we want to be treated as professionals,” he said, librarians shouldn’t wear badges that say merely “Librarian” without their name. He mocked those who say, “I don’t want to tell anybody my name, I might be stalked,” suggesting it doesn’t occur to workers at Wal-Mart. If you want to be treated like a professional, you have start acting like one,” he said. (link)

I have heard from several librarians that they are fully opposed to putting their names on name tags for fear of stalking. They seem sincere about their concern, even fearful! At my library, we met in the middle. First names only on the nametags, unless you are management. I still think this is kind of silly since we are a public library and everything (almost) is public record. We work for the citizens. If they want our names, they are going to get them one way or another. We have no policy in place on how to handle name requests.

Here are the issues I see with nametags in public libraries…

Unless you have clear policies in place, if somebody wants to find out your name, they are going to find out your name. They may go to a co worker, or they may just peek at the stuff on your desk. They can go to city hall and ask for the names and salaries of all city employees. They might even follow you home. One way or another, if they want your name, they are going to get it.

Nametags, make you readily identifiable as a library staff member. This may seem like a bad idea, but in the long run, it is a great idea. Read any of my other posts? One of our goals as librarians needs to be to get our demand up. One way to do this is to make our helpful selves available to patrons. I am not saying we should wear bright orange vests, but some indicator of availability cannot hurt. Those of us with an education should try to tout this education. Maybe work it into the nametag somewhere? I know when I go to any professional I like to see all the certifications on his/her wall. It makes me feel like I am getting my monies worth. I like to see that the person violating me in various ways is a certified doctor. Patrons who see our titles and maybe even an “M.L.S.” tag might get the subtle positive feeling too.

I have also heard some say that that wearing nametags is itself is an unprofessional move. I can see both sides of this argument. Wearing a great big pink nametag shaped like a book using bubbly fonts is far from professional. Wearing a metal name tag with name and title in Arial is very professional. Doctors all wear name tags. They are pretty professional. Well, most of the time. So too are police officers.

Here is the rub, name tags are for the customer. They are not for employee. I would imagine you all know who you are by now. They are to make the customer feel more in touch with you. Therefore, nametags proliferate the service industry. Anybody that signs up to work in a service industry needs to understand they may be wearing a nametag. They need to understand the risks of working with people. Working with the public is not inherently safe. You hear all the time some story where disgruntled customers punch, spit, and even shoot unfortunate employees. It happens. If you are so terrified of the people you serve that you do not want them to know your name, you may be in the wrong industry. And again, it is not that hard to find out a persons name. If by some miracle you get a policy in place that does make it hard to get your name, what kind of customer service is that? Heaven forbid you have a couple of really crappy people working for you. They piss off a bunch of patrons. The patron asks for their name. They tell the patron “It is against policy for me to give you my name, so sorry”. How do you think the patron would feel? If you were the patron, how would you feel?

Alas, nametags should be worn at all times. Last names are optional, but do not fool yourselves into thinking that this is in any significant way safer. Do not think that wearing no tags is somehow going to keep you safe. Nametags are a cheap and effective way to bond with the patrons and to relay a sense of competence. Remember who you work for.