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ZSR Student Assistant Orientation Guide: Service Desk Etiquette

This employee training guide is for Z. Smith Reynolds Library student assistants.

Service Desk Etiquette

1. General Service Etiquette

  • You may be the first representative of the library to greet our patrons.  Make it a positive experience!
  • Make eye contact and greet patrons.
  •  Be helpful and courteous, ALWAYS!
  •  Be ready and willing to move from behind service desks to help patrons!
  • If you are unable to answer a question, find someone who can.  If there is no one around to answer the question, take the patron’s name, contact information, and question and leave a note for a staff member in your department.
  • If you have problems with an unruly patron, please seek help from a staff member.
  • The service desk phones are not for personal use, they are for business use ONLY. 
  • Cell phones are prohibited at service desks.  If you must make a phone call, please talk to your supervisor and get permission to do so.  Otherwise, turn your cell phone off when you come into the Library.

2. Telephone Greetings

  • If you answer a service desk telephone, please begin by introducing your service desk, give your name, and then ask if you can help.
  • Example: "ZSR Library, this is Caroline, may I help you?"

3. Headphones, Texting, Multi-tasking

  • Headphones are permitted in some departments, but not others, while you are on duty. 
  • Headphones are NOT permitted at service desks.
  • Texting and similar multi-tasking are usually not permitted so that you can focus on the task at hand.
  • Please talk to your supervisor regarding this policy.

4. Homework

  • When you are at work in the ZSR Library, your main priorities are any job duties or tasks that you have been assigned for your specific position.
  • You are not guaranteed time to do homework while you are at work in the ZSR Library.  While there might be time for homework in some departments, there may be too much work to be done in other areas that prevent homework from being completed. 
  • Talk to your supervisor regarding your department's homework policy and be sure to plan ahead.