Secret Shopper Experience

 

My secret shopper experience did not go how I expected but overall, it was a decent experience. I decided to go to a library I am a little familiar with, but the staff does not know me. I arrived at the library and went to the reference desk. After I was greeted, I told the person at the desk I was looking for a good book recommendation. They seemed a little overwhelmed with my question but did immediately ask what genre I was looking for. I decided to ask for a science fiction novel. I am very unfamiliar with this genre, and it is one of my choices for our annotations. Once I told them science fiction, they recommended 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. This recommendation did not surprise me at all. This novel is one of the most well-known science fiction novels. I did explain that science fiction was not a genre I was super familiar with. After I told them this, they handed me a pamphlet of speculative fiction titles. The pamphlet is for the library’s book club which meets once a month to discuss the chosen title. I found the pamphlet to be helpful and appreciated the small source of information. It is a mix of several different genres but many of the titles fall under the science fiction category.

I left shortly after they handed me the pamphlet. I did not end up checking out any books during my visit. I am not interested in reading 2001: A Space Odyssey (maybe someday in the future) but I do plan on researching the titles on the pamphlet for further information. I was a little disappointed I left without checking out anything, but I had more information than when I entered the library.

Overall, the experience wasn’t terrible, but I certainly had expected a little more. It seemed as if the person at the desk wasn’t super familiar with recommending titles or at least, recommending science fiction novels. I had hoped that they might direct me to a staff member who might be able to provide more information, but they did not. It is entirely possible that they were short-staffed that day or maybe just busy.

This experience reminded me of the time I shadowed a reference librarian at their desk for a few hours. They seemed extremely comfortable giving out recommendations and would use resources to find titles. I believe that the library I went to does not have access to Novelist, at least it’s not listed anywhere on their website. It may be a resource only staff have access to, but I am unsure. I did appreciate that the person I spoke with gave me a recommendation and the extra information in the pamphlet. It may not have been exactly what I expected, but I could tell they may have felt put on the spot by my question.

I would go back to this library for a recommendation, but I would possibly talk to someone else. I do not expect everyone to have the tools to recommend titles to patrons. Next time, I would probably ask if there was someone else who may be able to point me in the right direction. It is possible that the person I spoke with does not usually cover the reference desk. Overall, the experience was short, but I did leave more confident that I could find a science fiction novel. The pamphlet I was given has some really great titles and I can use those as a jumping-off point. I plan on using Novelist to search the titles to find out what the book is about and similar titles. So overall, the experience did help me out even if I left without checking out a book.