Fort Vancouver library’s virtual services go off the books

Watch FVRL’s Early Learning and Anytime Storytime videos at: www.youtube.com/user/FVRLvirtual

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These librarians work in a realm without bookshelves, where the printed page is one of many options.

Sara Teas, Jen Studebaker and Lee-Anne Flandreau are part of Fort Vancouver Regional Library’s effort to find new ways to provide virtual services.

“It’s a library location with no walls or roof,” said Flandreau, district reference coordinator. “It’s not just engaging through books. There are a lot of formats.”

“Librarians don’t think about books as a physical thing,” Teas said. “It’s the content.”

Teas and Studebaker are Fort Vancouver’s virtual services coordinators. They work on the day-to-day online, Web and social-media aspects of library services.

“We serve patrons who don’t come in the door,” Studebaker said.

Teas, a former reference librarian, reorganized the virtual services department two years ago and now shapes and maintains the library’s website. Teas puts together social media events and serves the patrons who access the system mainly through its website.

Studebaker was previously coordinator of young adult services. The “desk” where she works now includes Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In addition to working with people who check in through the district’s home page, Studebaker maintains the library’s presence in the broader world of social media.

When it comes to providing answers, the term “broader world” also applies to people asking the questions. That’s because Fort Vancouver Regional Library is part of an international Q&A cooperative.

“People can ask questions 24/7,” Studebaker said. (Fort Vancouver’s commitment is five hours a week.) Questions come in from all across the country — and beyond.

“We see some folks from England, and some from Australia,” Studebaker said.

The range of queries includes pretty basic information.

“We get a lot of homework questions,” Studebaker said.

At the other extreme, “we do get crisis situations,” Flandreau said.

“A patron in New York City who called when I was staffing the cooperative was having a hard time. It sounded like some domestic violence,” Flandreau said.

Flandreau provided telephone numbers in New York City so the caller could talk with someone in that area about domestic violence.

Some of the questions involve “medical issues we can’t answer,” Teas added. “But we can refer.”

Those calls for help — literally — are not an everyday proposition, but they show how some people count on a librarian for answers.

Much of Teas’ work involves mini-communities, including organizing “Your Next Great Read” on social media.

“We have chess clubs and role-playing groups, too,” Teas said.

“Our ‘Minecraft’ server is very popular with young adults,” Studebaker added.

Virtual services can help library users overcome some barriers of time as well as distance.

“I used to be a youth services librarian. It can be tough for young people to get here,” Studebaker said.

For families that can’t make it to a live event — including a kids’ story time — there are online alternatives.

In December, storyteller Michele Taylor and producer Beth Townsend teamed up to record a 3½-minute video that included a performance of “Jingle Bells.” It was added to the library’s Early Learning website’s inventory of seasonal performances, including “Albuquerque Turkey” and “Five Little Pumpkins,” that can be played over and over and over.

Other interactions are much more spontaneous, Studebaker said.

“We monitor the library’s Twitter account. The other day, someone tweeted that it would be nice if the library had an app to search for books,” Studebaker said.

The library does, she said: “We sent the link.”

While those connections bring a new level of service to patrons throughout the 4,200-square-mile library district, it’s just part of the team’s job.

“Half our work is with the public; half is with the staff,” Studebaker said. “We can offer information and training, and facilitate discussions with our peers.”

The districtwide connectivity provided by the library’s internal network is something that Teas enjoys.

“I can reach our people in the moment, not in a day or two,” Teas said. “I have potentially a couple of hundred people to help me.”

So what’s coming next? They’re not sure; but sooner or later, it will arrive … and it will be exciting.

“We’re all new enough librarians that we came in knowing change was going to be a constant,” Flandreau said. “We don’t get invested in any one thing. We’re dabblers. We’re all very comfortable with change.”