Workplace conversations

Scenario conversations

1. Can you help me find a book?
2. I’d like to get a library card.
3. What are the fees for bringing back an item late? (no late fees)
4. What are the fees for bringing back an item late? (with late fees)
5. I’d like to use the Internet (on a library computer).
6. Do you have WiFi?
7. How do I check out a book?
8. Do you have magazines?
9. Can I bring my class to visit the library?
10. I forgot my library card.
11. I’d like to renew my book.
12. Planning an outreach
13. Does a customer still have a library account?
14. Renewing an account
15. Ordering a book from another branch

Can you help me find a book?

Customer: Hi, I’m looking for a book and I can’t remember the title or the author.	Bonjour, je cherche un livre dont je ne me rappelle pas le titre ni le nom d’auteur.
Employee: Can you remember anything else about it?	Pouvez-vous vous rappeler d’autre chose à propos du livre?
C: It's a Tintin book – the series of comic books from Belgium. I’m looking for the one where he's in a plane crash.	C’est un livre de Tintin – la série de BD belge / de la Belgique. Je cherche le livre où il est en un crash aérien.
E: Let's look together on the catalogue. We'll search for "tintin plane" to start.	Cherchons ensemble dans le catalogue. On peut chercher pour “tintin avion” pour commencer. Nous pouvons chercher pour « tintin avion » pour commencer
C: No, I don’t see it in the search results	Non, je ne le vois pas dans les résultats de la recherche
E: Can you remember any of the words from the title?	Pouvez-vous vous rappeler quelques mots du titre?
C: Maybe "flight?"	Peut-être “vol”
E: Let's try "tintin flight"	Essayons “tintin vol”
C: That's it - Flight 714 to Sydney by Hergé.	C’est ça! Vol 714 pour Sydney de Hergé
E: Okay, we'll note down the call number and section. It's in children's comic books and the call number is HERGE. Let's look together and see if we can find it.	Oké, notons la cote et la section. C’est dans les bandés dessinées pour enfants et la cote est HERGE. Cherchons ensemble pour voir si on peut le trouver.

I'd like to get a library card

Customer: Hi, I'd like to get a library card	Bonjour, j’aimerais obtenir une carte de bibliothèque
Employee: Great! Do you have photo ID and proof of residence with you?	Super! Avez-vous une pièce d’identité et une preuve de résidence?
C: I have my driver's license	J’ai mon permis de conduire
E: Does it have your current address on it?	Est-ce qu‘il a votre adresse actuel là-dessus?
C: Let me see...no, it has my old address. What can I use for proof of residence?	Voyons….non, il a mon ancien adresse. Qu’est-ce que je peux utiliser pour une preuve de résidence?
E: Anything that has your name and your address, so it could be a lease, hydro bill, bank statement...	N’importe quel document qui a votre nom et votre adresse. Ça peut être un bail, une facture d’hydro, un relevé bancaire….
C: I have a bank statement here	J’ai un relevé bancaire ici
E: Perfect! And I see you live in Librarytown, which is great. I’ll just start by inputing your address into our system... is there a phone number I can add to the account?	Parfait! Et je vois que vous habitez à Biblioville, ce qui est parfait.
C: It's 000-000-0000	C’est le 000-000-0000
E: You need a PIN to use the self checkouts, wifi, and to access your online account. We normally use the last four digits of your phone number as the pin. Is that okay?	Vous avez besoin d’un NIP pour utiliser les kiosques d’emprunt. Il vous faut un NIP pour utiliser les kiosques libre-service On utilise normalement les derniers quatre chiffres de votre numéro de téléphone pour le NIP. Est-ce que ça marche pour vous?
C: Yes, that's easy to remember	Oui, c’est facile à se rappeler
E: Great, so your PIN is 0000. What is your email address?	Super, donc votre NIP est 0000. Quelle est votre adresse courriel?
C: It's cutiepie8000@live.ca	C’est cutiepie8000@live.ca
E: This library [branch] is part of a 33 branch system. If you want an item not available at this branch, we can have it sent here for free. When the item arrives we need to be able to contact you. Would you prefer to be notified by email or by phone?	Cette succursale fait partie d’un réseau de 33 succursales. Si vous désirez un item qui n’est pas disponible à cette succursale, on peut le faire transférer ici gratuitement. Quand l’item arrive, il faut qu’on soit capable de vous contacter. Préférez-vous les avis par courriel ou par téléphone?
C: Email please	Par courriel, svp
E: Sounds good. Because I collected your personal information today, I just want to let you know about our privacy statement: we use your personal information to offer the library’s services, but we keep it confidential and do not share it. Do you have any questions.
C: No, it seems clear.
E: Here is your card. Could you please sign it? ... Your first card is free. If you happen to lose it there is a $1 replacement fee.	Voici votre carte. Pouvez-vous le signer? Votre première carte est gratuite. Si vous la perdez, il y a un coût de remplacement de 5$
C: That seems fair.	Ça me semble juste.
E: Welcome to the library! Can I help you find anything?	Bienvenue à la bibliothèque! Est-ce que je peux vous aider à trouver quelque chose?

What are the fees for bring back an item late? (no late fees)

Customer: Hi, I wanted to return this video game, but I’ve had it for awhile, so there are probably late fees.

Employee: Okay, let’s take a look at what’s in your account. How late are we looking at?

C: Oh, I probably checked this game out...three months ago?

E: Ok, let’s see... it looks like the item is only about one week overdue. The items you have checked out renew automatically as long as no other customer has requested the item.

C: Oh, I didn’t know that! Does it just keep renewing forever if I never bring the item back?

E: No, there is a maximum of three renewals. The video game you checked out was renewed all three times, and the due date for the last renewal was last week.

C: Oh, good, that’s not too bad then! So how much do I owe the library in late fees?

E: The library actually no longer charges late fees. So if you are ready to return the item now, we can check it back in, and it will be cleared off your account, and you’ll be good to go.

C: So, if there is no penalty, how do you ensure the item is returned? Couldn’t a customer just keep it forever?

E: After about a month of the item being overdue, the customer is charged the full cost of the item to replace it. This generally means the user has to bring the item back or pay for it in order to keep using the library.

C: Oh, okay, that makes sense.

E: So, if you are ready to return the item, we can clear it off your account and you’ll be good to go.

C: And no fees? I don’t have to pay anything?

E: No fees.

C: Wow, cool! I love the library!

What are the fees for bringing back an item late? (with late fees)

Customer: Hi, I have this book to bring back, but it’s a couple of days late, so I’d like to pay the fee. How much is it?

E: The late fees vary per item. For example, adult books are $0.40 per day per item. Children's books are $0.10 per day per item. So if you had two adult books which were late, it would be $0.80 per day.

C: My book has this orange sticker, does that mean anything?

E: The stickers mean that they're Express books. They are a first-come, first-serve collection for popular items. Because of this, the late fee is higher: $2 per day. Those ones you *really* want to return on time.

C: I see. Can I return my books when you're closed?

E: Yes, we have an outdoor return bin. And if you return items while we're closed, it counts as being returned the previous time we were open.

C: So if I returned in them before you open on Wednesday morning...

E: ...it would be the same as if you returned them on Tuesday.

C: That's good to know. Ok, so how much is my late fee for this book?

E: It looks like it was three days late, so it is 6.00$.

C: All right, there we go. And now I know better how this works, so I will bring the next ones back on time!

I'd like to use the Internet (on a library computer).

C: Hi, I'd like to use the Internet, but I’m not sure how to log in to the public computers. Can you show me?

E: Yes, of course. You need an active library account to be able to connect. Do you have a library card?

C: Umm, let’s see... yes!

E: Great! So, do you see the barcode number on the back of the card? You’ll have to enter it without spaces.

C: All right... done!

E: Now, you need to enter your PIN. Usually, it’s the last four digits of your phone number.

C: Hmm, let’s try this... ok, it looks like it worked.

E: Yes! Now, we encourage you to read the privacy statement and the conditions of use, and agree to them by selecting the “I agree” button.

C: ..... all right, good.

E: Now, you arrive at your home screen, and it works like a personal computer.

C: Where can I find the browser?

E: From the Start menu at the bottom, and as you can see, most common browsers are installed: Edge, Chrome, Firefox, ...

C: Perfect, I can take it from here.

E: Do let us know if you run into any trouble!

Do you have WiFi?

C: Do you have WiFi?

E: Yes, we do. To access it, you'll need a library card. Do you have one?

C: Yes, I have it here.

E: Great! What kind of device do you want to connect with?

C: I have a phone, a tablet, and a laptop. Can I use them all at once with my card?

E: Yes, that's not a problem. You can connect many devices with one card. To connect to the WiFi, there's two steps. First, we connect to the network. Then, we need to open a web browser which will show us the login page.

C: Let's do the laptop first. So, I click on the WiFi icon here and connect to which network?

E: It's "BiblioLib"

C: Okay, it's connecting. Now I need to do what?

E: Open a web browser like Chrome or Edge. So, click on the start menu, then click on "Chrome." Now, we have to wait for it to bring up the login page.

C: It doesn't seem to be doing anything

E: Sometimes it doesn't work right away. And sometimes we need to type the direct URL into the address bar to get it to show up. Let me try that. I'm going to type "BiblioLib.loginproxy.com".... It worked! Now, we see the login page.

C: So, I guess I enter my library card number and my PIN?

E: That's right. And then press “Enter”/

C: It worked! I think I understand how to connect with my phone and tablet.

E: If you run into any trouble I will just be over there. I'm always happy to help.

How do I check out a book?

C: Hi, I'd like to borrow these books.

E: Great! Have you ever used our checkout machines before?

C: No...they look complicated

E: They can be a little tricky the first time, but I'd be happy to show you how it works.

C: Okay

E: The checkout stations use touchscreens. So we’ll first start by selecting our language, say “French”. Then tap "checkout". Now we can see that the screen is asking you to scan the barcode on your library card. The barcode scanner is this red light down here. Hold your library card so that we can see the barcode. Whatever we see is what the machine can see.

C: Like this?

E: Yes, that's right. And if we look at the screen now, we can see that it's asking for your PIN. Do you remember it?

C: I'm not sure...

E: It's usually the last four digits of your phone number. Could we try that?

C: That's 3920.

E: So we'll enter 3920 using the keyboard and then press enter. See, and now it's telling us to place up to 5 items at a time in the scanning area. That means you can take your first 5 books and place them all in a pile in this space here. Now we watch the screen - see how the titles are appearing?

C: Wow! How can it do that without using the barcode?

E: These machines work with RFID tags instead of barcodes – the machine is reading a tag that is inside the item. Okay, so we can see that we have five titles showing on the screen now and that's a checkmark next to each name. If we saw a clock symbol next to any of them, that would mean we had to leave them there for longer.

C: So now I have to log out and log back in to check out my other 2 books?

E: It's even easier than that. We take out these 5 books which are done and put in the next two. See how they're added at the bottom of the list?

C: That's neat.

E: Yes, and now we need to tell the machine we're finished. Would you like a receipt today with the due dates for your items?

C: Yes please

E: Okay, then you should touch "Finish with receipt". Even if you don't want a receipt some day it's always important to touch "finish". Otherwise the next person to use the machine could accidentally borrow items on your account.

C: I wouldn't want that!

E: No, but you can be confident that you're logged out when you see the welcome screen.

C: That was fun, and not that complicated. Thanks for showing me!

Do you have magazines?

Customer: Do you have magazines?

Employee: We certainly do. Are you looking for a particular title?

C: Yes, I was looking for this month's issue of Consumer Reports.

E: That will be over here in the magazines section. We do have the current issue that you can browse here. The only thing is that the current issue is non-circulating, which means you can’t take it home.

C: Oh, can I borrow older ones?

E: Yes, the back issues can be borrowed. It’s just the current issue that is non-circulating. One other thing you might like to know is that your library card gives access to the Consumer Reports online database for free. So if you want the ratings for a paritucular product, you can look them up online.

C: How do I do that?

E: Let me show you. You go to the library website, then to the catalogue and search for “ConsumerReports”, all one word with no spaces. Then you can use the limiters on the left of the window to narrow your search to “Online Resources”. Now we’re seeing the link to the database. Since we’re at the library, it will let us access the database right away. If you were at home, you would need to log in first. Do you know your log in information?

C: Is it the same login I use when I access my online account, or borrow e-books?

E: Yes, it’s the same

C: Then, yes I know it. Thanks very much for your help!

Can I bring my class to visit the library?

Teacher; Hi, I’m a new teacher at the local public school. I heard that classes can come to the library as a group. Is that right?

Employee: Yes, we often have classes visit. You can come just to borrow books, or we can offer a tour or other programming based on your interests and what you’re teaching at the moment. What did you have in mind?

Teacher: Books and a tour would be great! It’s May, and my keener readers have already read through most of my classroom books and the school library. But do the students all need their own card?

Employee: Yes, if they would like to borrow items. We can provide you with registration forms for the students, or we can email you the form to print yourself. If you return the forms to us at the library at least 7 days before your visit, our staff will be able to make cards for any kids that don’t have one.

Teacher: Oh, that’s perfect. Is there a phone number I could reach you at to discuss further and st a time?

Employee: Sure, I’ll write down my contact information, and we’ll set up a time for a visit!

I forgot my library card.

Customer: Hi, I’d like to borrow these movies, but I forgot my library card at home. Is there a way I could still take them out?

Employee: I can look up your account if you have photo ID.

C: Oh, yes, I should have my student card here somewhere.... why do you need photo ID?

E: It’s for privacy reasons. We need to make sure we are not sharing information on your account with the wrong person.

C: Oh, that makes sense. Here you go.

E: Perfect, thank you. I’ll just look up your name in the system.... can you confirm your phone number? This is to make sure I have the correct account.

C: It’s 987-6543.

E: Here we go... I’ll write your account number down, and when you are ready to take out your items, you can do so at the checkout station like usual. You will just have to enter the barcode number in manually instead of scanning your library card.

C: Ok, and then I enter my PIN as usual?

E: Yes. Also, just to let you know, if you can’t find your card anymore, we can replace it, but there is a replacement fee of 1$.

C: Got it, thanks for letting me know. I’m pretty sure it’s just around the house somewhere. I’ll take another look, and let you know.

E: Sounds good. See you next time!

I’d like to renew my book.

Customer: Hi, I wasn’t done reading this book, but it’s due tomorrow. Is there any way I could renew it?

Employee: Let’s take a look – items can be renewed as long as there are no holds on it – that means that no one else is waiting for it. Do you have your library card with you?

C: Yes, here.

E: Great, thank you. So, yes, the item is due tomorrow. Let me open the item’s record... it looks like there are a few people who have a hold on the item, but I’m also seeing that we have many other copies that are still available. So yes, we’ll be able to renew the item.

C: Oh that’s great! I’ll be able to finish reading it! It’s a suspense novel, and it’s really good, so it woudl have been hard to put down!

E: I’m glad this worked out! I can renew the item right now if you would like, but the system should renew the item automatically tomorrow – it is configured to do that when possible.

C: Will I get a notice or a confirmation that it’s been renewed?

E: Yes, if you are signed up to receive email notices.

C: Yes, I am. Just wondering, if I could not have renewed the item, what would have been my options?

E: We could have looked for a copy of the item in another collection, such as the first-come first serve express collection, or the large print collection. We could also have put you back on the waiting list for the next available copy.

C: What would happen if I keep the book an extra day or two to finish reading it? Are there any late fees?

E: Generally, there are no fees for bringing an item back late, unless it is part of a special collection. You definitely could choose to keep the item a few extra days, and pay any fee that might be incurred. You will not be charged for a lost item unless you do not bring the book back for many weeks. But as a courtesy for those waiting for the item, we’d like to encourage you to do your best to bring the book back on time.

C: Very fair. I've been on long wait lists for some items, and would definitely want others to be punctual in returning their books. I will do my best. Thanks for your help!

Planning an outreach

Employee 1: Did you see the email from the community association? They’ve invited us to their annual BBQ.

Employee 2: No, I was on the desk all morning and haven’t checked my email yet. When is it?

E1: It’s an evening the week school ends. They’ve invited us and the Bookmobile.

E2: Did we go last year?

E1: Yes, Cindy went. She said it was worth it - tons of families so it’s a good opportunity to promote the Summer Reading Club. She made a few new cards and managed to recruit a conversation group leader.

E2: Nice! Let’s hope for a repeat this year. Can you book the outreach kit and laptop? This would be a great opportunity for the new children’s librarian, so we can get him to put together materials for display. Can you talk him through it? Let him know we’ll pay his mileage and all that. I’ll put this on the calendar and get someone to backfill his evening shift.

E1: Will do. Should be a fun event, and a great opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the community association. They’ll be happy we can make it!

Does a customer still have a library account?

Customer: Hi, I’d like to use the internet?

Employee: Sure! You need a library account to log into the computer. Do you have one?

C: I got one a long time ago.

E: Ok, I can check and see if you're still in the system. What's your name?

C: Bridget McKeracher

E: How do you spell McKeracher?

C: MCK-

E: Could you spell it slowly, please?

C: M-C-K-E-R-A-C-H-E-R

E: It looks like we might have an account for you here. Do you have photo ID with you today?

C: Here’s my driver’s license.

E: Great! Yes, this is your account, and it looks like it is still active. Here’s your account number. You just need to enter this into the computer, along with your PIN, and you will be good to go.

C: What’s my PIN?

E: It’s usually the last four digits of your phone number.

C: Ok, I’ll try that and let you know if I have any problems. Thank you!

Renewing an account

C: Hi, I can’t access my account?

E: Ok, do you have your library card with you?

C: No, I don’t know where it is.

E: Ok, how about photo ID?

C: Yes, here’s my driver’s license.

E: Thank you. Here’s your account... it looks like it expired last year. Let’s renew it, and you’ll be good to go. Is the address on your license still correct?

C: Yes.

E: And the phone number we have on file is 987-654-3210?

C: Can we update the number to 123-456-7890?

E: Yes, there we go. Would you like to update your PIN as well, to be the last four digits of your phone number?

C: Ah, good idea, easy to remember.

E: There we go. We should also replace your library card. Are you sure you don’t know where your current one is?

C: No idea. We recently moved, so it’s definitely gone. Could I just get another one.

E: Yes, but there is a 1$ replacement fee.

C: That’s ok. Can I pay by credit card?

E: Sure, feel free to tap or enter your card when ready.

C: Here we are.

E: Thank you. And here is your new card. Your account has been renewed, and you are good to go.

C: Thank you for your help.

Ordering a book from another branch

Customer: Hi, I’m looking for the book La nouvelle maîtresse by Dominique Demers?

Employee: Let me look it up in the catalogue... we have it available as an ebook if you are interested?

C: No, I’d rather get a print copy.

E: Ok. It looks like our branch’s copy is checked out. But there is a copy available at a branch on the other end of the city. We could order it for you.

C: How would that work? Is there a fee?

E: No, it’s a service we provide so we can share the items between all the branches of the library. We would place a hold on the item, and they’ll go and retrieve the book and send it here. When it arrives, you will receive an email and have one week to come and pick it up.

C: How long does it take?

E: About one week.

C: That would work.

E: Ok, it’s done!

C: We look forward to receiving it. Thank you for your help.