Hamilton City Libraries have now had APN for over a month at all six libraries – here are some comments from staff & customers.
For Cazna and the Glenview library team the positives have included – the delight of customers when they find out they can have a session for free and the range of features available to them on APN; and the excellent service from the APN helpdesk. Challenges have been – managing behaviours of some people that usually come in in groups and stay for long periods, going on to waiting lists multiple times. They have also had to manage truants more frequently since the installation.
Central library Level 3 also comment that the service from APN has been great and very reliable. Customers have been very happy with free Internet access and, with the extra terminals, being able to stay on as long as there is no one waiting. Wireless is also very popular. “Showed an elderly lady how to use skype to talk to her friends in England. She was very happy”.
Meg and the Customer Experience Team at the Central library comment that it is much better access with more terminals and faster and better service. “It is good to see a wide range of people gaining access to the internet and the other services provided. We see a lot of visitors to the city and country who are very appreciative – many young people travelling around the world. Main challenge has been the increase of more challenging customers. We have received many wonderful comments about the service and it is a delight to see people’s faces light up when they hear it is free. We would like to be able to help out more, some of our skill levels still need development. We need to make time to practice and learn from each other”.
Gill from Hillcrest library says the main challenge has been the time element after school – it seems to be a full time job for one staff member managing the swop overs! They are having to check up on young people in the library during school time a bit more but have got good instructions from local high schools. They have a wider range of people visiting the library and enjoying the free extended time and services available on the computers, which are constantly in use. They have also found the service from APN first rate, but also emphasis the need to keep working on increasing staff skills.
The Chartwell team say it has been awesome to see customers using all of the new technology available, and has been interesting to see staff improving their own knowledge in order to help out customers. “Although it seems that library users have to wait a bit longer for service (issuing books) and it feels more like an internet cafe, it is good to see people using broadband. Customers are really positive. One customer was very impressed with the service – he is a computer tutor and said he would be informing his students of the APN service. It is extremely popular – word spread so quickly! Customers are pleasantly surprised that APN is free”.
