Hello everyone,

Recently, I’ve been thinking about how to better handle questions from patrons asking for resources we don’t have. I think we’ve all had a common experience where someone is directed to the library erroneously because of an old program or drive we used to have years ago, false info on the internet, or possibly just because they think a library might have what they’re looking for.  

As librarians, we can’t directly respond to a lot of these questions, instead directing patrons to more appropriate online resources if their question matches. Usually, directing them to these trusted websites goes a way towards helping, but there are a few situations I’ve been in where a patron isn’t technologically literate, doesn’t have continued access to the internet or their needs are better met with a physical location. 

I think it would be convenient to have a researched list of local resource locations and phone numbers within a reasonable driving distance on a printed sheet at a desk. Rather than trying to frantically google places nearby for a patron on a subject (and coming up with mixed, sometimes unverifiable results on google we have to sift through) this project would let us share vetted locations quickly and confidently. 

Does anyone have any good advice about approaching this or have experience with a similar project? 

Best,