College and Research Libraries LARRY E. HARRELSON Large Libraries and Information Desks The results of a survey on the nature and functions of information desks in large academic and public libraries are examined with respect to the functions, staffing patterns, and times of service of inforrruz... tion desks. Various aspects of the structure of libraries are analyzed in relation to information desk services with some differences in ser- vices found between academic and public libraries. The survey ex- pands and brings up to date Kleiner's 1967 study. INTRODUCTION ALTHOUGH THERE IS CONSIDERABLE LIT- ERATURE on various aspects of reference work, only one article seems to have been written specifically about the in- formation desk. Jane P. Kleiner sur- veyed the member libraries of the Asso- ciation of Research Libraries in 1967 regarding information desk services and reported her results and conclusions in the November 1968 issue of College and Research Libraries .1 To broaden the knowledge base con- cerning information desks, the author conducted a mail survey of large aca- demic and public libraries in the spring of 1972. This survey included a wider range of topics than did Kleiner's and was mailed to a larger sample of li- braries. In addition to a broad overview of information desk services, specific foci of the study were: ( 1) the nature of information desk work as practiced in large libraries, particularly the pro- fessional/ nonprofessional dimensions of the job; ( 2) the influence that the structure of the library, with emphasis on the · arrangement of its reference services, might have on the nature of in- formation desk service; and ( 3) the Larry E. Harrelson is director, Crowley Ridge Regional Library, Jonesboro, Arkan- sas. differences, if any, of information desk service in academic versus public li- braries. METHODOLOGY Data were gathered by means of a three-page questionnaire mailed to 124 academic libraries and 73 public li- braries in the spring of 1972. The sam- ple consisted of all academic and public libraries with holdings of 500,000 vol- umes or more, according to the 1970- 1971 American Library Directory. State libraries and special libraries were ex- cluded from the sample. Of the 197 questionnaires mailed, 155 were returned, for an overall return rate of 79 percent. For academic li- braries, the return rate was 82 percent, and for public libraries, 73 percent. The following analysis is based on 102 usable questionnaires from academic li- braries and 47 usable returns from pub- lic libraries.2 The returns were from a first and only mailing, and no follow-up letters were mailed. This relatively high return seems to reflect considerable interest in the matter. Many respondents indicated that information desks were a topic of interest and discussion in their libraries, and sixteen librarians explicitly request- ed that they receive a copy of the re- sults. Items on the three-page questionnaire I 21 22 I College & Research Libraries • January 1974 required either a check mark or a short answer. Most of the third page was left empty for "additional comments." The definition utilized in the survey was an operational one: Information Desk: a desk readily avail- able to library patrons upon first enter- ing the building. Traditional informa- tion desks have provided three basic types of service: ( 1) locational or directional information (where is --?), · and ( 2) instruction in use of the library and its materials, and ( 3) simple reference. Catalog assist- ance may also be a function of the in- formation desk. The information desk may be distinguished from a reference desk in that the reference service pro- vided by the information desk is limit- ed to simple or "ready" reference; it does not offer extensive or specialized reference assistance. INFORMATION DESKS AND THE STRUCI'URE OF LIBRARIES Many large libraries do not have in- formation desks: 53 percent of 102 aca- demic libraries and 36 percent of 47 public libraries do not. In the libraries without information desks, the services that are usually performed by informa- tion desks are rendered by other library units. As expected, this unit most often is the reference department, although frequently the circulation department fulfills many of the functions. A larger percentage of public li- braries have information desks ( 64 per- cent) than dp academic libraries ( 4 7 percent). This may indicate a greater service orientation of public libraries and less library sophistication o~ the average user. A definite correlation occurs between the existence of an information desk and the existence of a decentralized system of reference (see Table 1). A chi square · analysis shows the relation- ship to be significant at the .01 level for academic libraries and at the .10 level for public libraries. A centralized reference service, if properly located, can assume most or all of the services of an information desk; when the reference service is decentral- ized, however, no other unit can easily perform the directional assistance, cata- log assistance, and simple reference functions of the traditional informa- tion desk Conversely, in a decentralized reference situation, a referral service is needed to advise the patron and to re- fer him to the appropriate subject ref- erence specialist. Although it was assumed that systems with a large number of branch libraries might have more need of an informa- tion desk in the main library (to ex- plain the library system to patrons and to refer patrons to the appropriate branch), this was not the case. Academic libraries-with or without an informa- tion desk-have about the same number of branches. The lack of a relationship may be due to the small number of TABLE 1 STRUCTURE OF REFERENCE SERVICE AND PREsENCE oF INFORMATION DEsKS Number Having Number Having a Centralized a Decentralized Nonresponses Reference Area Reference Area to This Item Total Academic Libraries with Information Desks 18 26 4 48 Academic Libraries without Information 37 17 0 54 Desks N=102 Public Libraries with Information Desks 1 24 5 30 Public Libraries without Information 4 13 0 17 Desks N=47 branches in most academic systems (the median being approximately five branches). Public library systems tend to have more branch libraries than do academic ones. In addition, public libraries with information desks in the main library appear to have more branches than those without information desks. Yet this correlation cannot be explained on the grounds that an information desk Large Libraries I 23 ence desks. Twenty-seven percent of the academic libraries and 50 percent of the public ones with information desks also have catalog assistance desks. Apparent- ly some libraries receive so many gen- eral reference and catalog assistance questions that the information desk cannot both answer them and perform its directional function properly. TIMES OF INFORMATION DESK SERVICE is needed for the large number of The libraries with information desks branch libraries because public library vary considerably in the amounts of branches are, in essence, small public li- time that the desk is staffed. Table 2 in- braries, not subject speciality libraries dicates the diversity. Both academic and (as in academic libraries); and because public libraries staff their information this correlation may only reflect that the desks about the same number of hours entire system, including the main li- per week ( cf. mean hours). However, brary, is large and complex. since academic libraries on the average Another way of examining the rela- are open more hours per week than are tionship between the structure of public libraries, the ratio of time that libraries and information desks is the information desk is staffed to time through the existence of catalog assist- that the library is open is smaller for ance and general reference desks. It was the academic libraries. Twenty-nine of hypothesized that a general reference the thirty public libraries staff their in- desk would not be needed if there were formation desks 100 percent of the time an information desk (except perhaps that the library is open (up to 71 hours in a library with centralized reference), per week), and twelve of the forty- and that a catalog assistance desk would eight academic libraries staff their in- not be necessary if the information formation desks 100 percent of the time desk were near enough to the catalog to that the library is open (up to 102 hours perform that function. The data did per week). not support these speculations. Sixty-six Of the forty-eight academic libraries, percent of the academic libraries with 98 percent staff the information desk information desks and 47 percent of during the day, 73 percent during eve- the public libraries with information nings, and 73 percent on weekends. In desks, in addition, staff general refer- the thirty public libraries, the informa- Academic Libraries Range Median Mean Public Libraries Range Median Mean TABLE 2 INFORMATION DESK SERVICE PER WEEK Number of Hours Library Is Open 61.5-168 100 99.1 48-71 67 66.4 Number of Hours Information Desk Is Staffed 18-102 78 69.9 48-71 67 66.2 Percentage of Time Library Is Open That Information Desk Is Staffed N=48 17.6-100 82.8 77.6 . N=30 88.4-100 100 99.6 24 1 College & Research Libraries • January 1974 TABLE 3 FUNCTIONS OF INFORMATION DESKS Function Directi~nal Information Catalog Assistance Instruction in use of periodical indexes Instrpction in use of bibliographies Simple reference service Answering mail requests Giving library tours Academic Libraries (N=48) Number (Percent) Public Libraries (N=30) Number (Percent) 30 (IOO) 23 ( 77) 8 ( 27) 8 ( 27) Giving library instruction to classes, special groups, etc. Telephone switchboard 48 ( 100) 42 ( 88) 24 ( 50) 24 ( 50) 34 ( 71) 17 ( 35) 20 ( 42) 17 ( 35) 14 ( 29) 16 ( 53) 8 ( 27) 5 ( 17) 5 ( 17) 5 ( 17) tion desk is manned during the day in all cases, during the evenings in 97 per- cent, and on weekends 97 percent. Most of the public libraries are closed on Sundays. FUNcTIONS OF INFORMATION DESKS Table 3 presents an outline of the na- ture of information desk service in large academic · and public libraries, as measured by this survey. Public libraries have a somewhat different profile than do. academic libraries, particularly in in- structional types of functions. All pro- vide directional information service, telephone service, indexing current book reviews, directory , service, screening ap- plicants for library privileges, interli- brary loan assistance, check-out of spe- cial materials and filing. Respondep.ts were also asked to cate- gorize . information desk functions in terms of the three traditional areas of information desk service-directional information, instruction in use o£ the library and its materials, and simple ref- erence-and to estimate the percentage of time spent in each area. As Table 4 suggests, most services performed by in- formation desks can be subsumed under three headings. On the average, approx- imately half of information desk ser- vice consists of directional and location- a! assistance. On a professional/ nonprofessional basis, respondents varied considerably in their estimate of time spent on duties in each category. Some thought that none of the information desk duty was professional in nature, and some consid- ered all the work professional. Academ- ic and public libraries were similar in their average estimates . of the percent- age of time spent on professional duties: academic libraries had a median of 40 percent and a mean of 41.9 per- TABLE 4 Academic Libraries Range Median Mean Public Libraries Range Median Mean PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT ON DmECTIONAL AssiSTANCE, LmRARY INSTRUCTION, AND SIMPLE REFERENCE Directional Assistance Library Instruction (Percent) (Percent) 5-100 0-70 50 25 48.3 26.8 5-100 0-70 50 15 49.5 19.6 Simple Reference (Percent) 0-70 18 18.8 0-70 17.5 22.3 cent, and public libraries had a median of 45 percent and a mean of 42.6 per- cent. Another way in which the nature of information desk service, particularly its service aspect, might be elucidated is to know the size of the reference col- lection kept at or near the information desk and utilized by desk attendants. Some information desks in the survey had no reference works at all at the in- formation desk; at the other extreme, one public library had 10,000 volumes available for use by the information desk. The libraries fall into five groups based on the number of reference works normally available to the infor- mation desk: Numberaf Reference Volumes Academic Public 1. None 10 6 2. A dozen or fewer 10 9 3. Between a dozen and a hundred 4. Between a hundred and a thousand 5. Over a thousand 10 5 8 5 3 1 N = 41 N = 26 About two-thirds of both academic and public libraries have fewer than one hundred volumes at the information desk, which supports the idea that it is usually the "simple" or "quick" type of reference that is rendered at the infor- mation desk. Large Libraries / 25 In addition to reference works kept at or near the information desk, fre- quently other materials are close enough to be used by the information desk at- tendant while working. Table 5 lists some of these tools and services and notes the percentage of libraries in which they are utilized by the informa- tion desk attendant. Other materials or services mentioned include books-on-order file, telephone directories, information about the li- brary, information about the university and/ or city, college catalogs, shelflist, reserve desk, registration file, subject headings, vertical file, index to recent book reviews, and new book shelf. STAFFING THE INFORMATION DESKS As Tables 6 and 7 depict, academic libraries tend to have a higher status person staffing the information desk during the day than do public libraries. The situation is reversed . for evening and weekend hours, when public li- braries staff the information desk with a higher status person. Sixty-five percent of the academic li- braries and 53 percent of the public li- braries having. information desks think that a professional librarian is needed at the information desk during the day. For evening and weekend hours, ~6 per- cent of the academic libraries and 50 percent of the public libraries consider that a professional librarian . is neces- TABLE 5 MATERIALS AND SERVICES NEAR ENOUGH TO THE INFORMATION DEsK TO BE OF UsE IN NoRMAL INFORMATION DESK WoRK Item Card catalog Serials record Periodical indexes Bibliographies Reference works other than the information desk collection Circulation desk Interlibrary loan Academic Libraries (N= 48) Number (Percent) 42 (88) 35 (73) 21 ( 44) 27 (56) 18 ( 38) 36 (75) 26 (54) Public Libraries (N = 30) Number (Percent) 22 (73) 18 (60) 9 (30) 11 (37) 8 (27) 13 ( 43) 8 (27) 26/ Co-llege & Research Libraries •January 1974 TABLE 6 STAFFING PATTERNs DURING DAYTIME HoURS Professional Librarian High Level Nonprofessional Low Level Nonprofessional sary. In those libraries which do not staff the information desk with a pro- fessional librarian during evenings and on weekends, there is, almost without exception, a librarian on duty at some point in the library. In response to the question, '"Would it be -sufficient to have a librarian on call (in some other part of the building) to handle questions that a nonprofessional attendant could not answer?'' 56 percent of the academ- ic library respondents and 47 percent of the public library respondents said "yes." Based on the data collected, the inves- tigator concluded that in many, if not most, cases a professional librarian is not needed at the information desk (though it may be handy to have a li- brarian on call). The duties are basical- ly subprofessional in nature. As noted in the discussion of information desk functions, approximately half of the staff time is devoted to directional as- sistance. Furthermore, much of the '"li- brary instruction" and ccsimple refer- ence" service performed at an informa- tion desk does not require professional training. Elementary instruction in the use of a particular library, general peri- Academic Libraries (N= 48) Number (Percent) 35 (73) 11 (23) 2 (44) Public Libraries (N= 30) Number (Percent) 19 (63) 10 (33) 1 ( 3) odical indexes, or the catalog can be handled by a trained nonprofessional. Likewise, the information desk attend- ant is not called on to do in-depth ref- erence work, but only general and sim- ple reference. In fact, the information desk reference collection typically is small, about a dozen or so volumes. In shoit, the primary function of an information desk is location and orien- tation. Directions regarding the library and its basic finding tools are also of concern. Such tasks require a friendly, courteous person with a good knowledge of a particular library and a general knowledge of basic finding tools. A pro- fessional librarian is not required, un- less detailed library instruction and ref- erence service is provided. SUMMARY Not all large libraries have informa- tion desks; about one-half of the aca- demic libraries and one-third .of the public libraries represented in this sur- vey do not. In these libraries, the direc- tional, instructional, and simple refer- ence functions are performed by other library units, most frequently the ref- erence or circulation department. TABLE 7 STAFFING PATTERNS DURING EVENINGS AND ON WEEKENDS Professional Librarian High Level Nonprofessional Low Level Nonprofessional Student Assistant Information Desk Not Staffed Academic Libraries (N= 48) Number (Percent) 26 (54) 6 ( 12) 2 ( 4) 3 ( 6) 11 (23) Public Libraries (N=30) Number (Percent) 20 (67) ' 8 (27) 2 ( 7) In those libraries which do have in- formation desks, approximately half of the information desk work involves di- rectional and locational assistance. Al- most all of the work can be subsumed under the categories of directional and locational assistance, instruction in the use of the library and its materials, and simple reference. Information desks in academic libraries perform more in- structional services than do their coun- terp~rts in public libraries. About 40--45 percent of the work is considered to be professional in nature. The information desk is most fre- quently staffed by a professional librari- an (in about two-thirds of the cases). Academic libraries staff the desk with a professional liprarian more often dur- ing the day than during evenings and on weekends. On the other hand, public libraries tend to increase slightly the professional coverage during evenings and on weekends. Respondents were about equally divided as to whether or not a professional librarian on call (but not actually stationed at the desk) would be sufficient professional cover- age. On the average, information desks in academic and public libraries are staffed about the same number of hours per week: 65-70 hours. However, since aca- demic libraries remain open more hours per week than do public libraries, their ratio of ''hours information desk is sta!fed to hours library is open" is small- er. Large Libraries I 21 Regarding library structure and in- formation desks, a significant correla- tion was found between information desks and decentralized reference. Pre- sumably, when reference is decentral- ized, a point of contact must be estab- lished in order to provide directional assistance, referral of the patron to the right subject area reference, etc. A rath- er surprising finding was that two-thirds of the academic libraries and nearly half of the public libraries with infor- mation desks have, in addition, a gen- eral reference desk. Half of the public libraries and one-fourth of the academ- ic libraries also staff a c.atalog assistance desk. Thus, the following combination can be found: decentralized reference areas, an information desk, and a gen- eral reference <;>r catalog assistance desk. Apparently heavy patron use and/ or special characteristics of individual li- braries lead to these patterns. In conclusion, whether or not a large library establishes or continues an infor- mation desk depends largely on how well the directional, instructional, and/ or simple reference functions are being served or can be served by other units in the library. If an information desk is established_ its staffing patterns and its hours of operation must be decided in response to local needs. However, this survey may provide some guidance by indicating the patterns of information desk service (or its absence) in other li- braries. · REFERENCES 1. Jane P. Kleiner, "Information Desk: The Li- brary's Gateway to Service," CRL 29:496- 501 (Nov. 1968). 2. Six additional public libraries responded but could not be used in the study since they had no large central library in their system. 3. Eleanor F. Steiner-Pray and Helaine Mack- eigan, comps., 1970-1971 American Library Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker, 1970). 4. Larry Harrelson, Shirley Pelley, and Chris- tine Gilson, "Final Report of a User Survey of the Bizzell Memorial Library with Special Reference to Problems" (Norman: Univer- sity of Oklahoma libraries, July 1972). (Mimeographed)