Why aren’t there any signs upstairs letting people know they can go to that office on the second floor if they are having trouble finding a book? I went all the way down to the reference desk, who then sent me to the circulation desk. The circulation desk let me know that there was a stacks office so if I ever have trouble locating something there are people up there who can actually help me look for it. I went to the stacks office and was able to get help finding the book I needed. It would have been nice to know this while I was still upstairs instead of having to run all over the place.

We’re sorry to hear you got the old library run-around, being sent from one desk to another until you finally find the person who can help you. Believe me, that frustrates us as well because we know when it happens you are having a lousy library experience – and our goal is to make sure you have a great library experience. So yes, we failed. The librarian at the reference desk could have told you about the stacks office – and even called the stacks office to see if there was someone there to help you. Sending you to the circulation desk just added another layer to your quest for the book.

The reason we don’t have signs promoting the stacks office is because…well, where would we put that sign? In the stacks? Where? How many would we need? You could well imagine we’d need to have signs all over the stacks if it read “Can’t find the book you came here for? Go to the stacks office on the second floor?” And when it comes to signs, most people don’t read them. So what do we do to try to give you the help you need. Two things. First, we have service phones on the east and west sides of the upper levels. They are located in the vicinity of the stairwell doors. The phones offer a direct call to the reference or circulation desk. That way you can ask your question without having to run all the way to the actual desk. The location of the service phones is also noted on the floor maps we have in every stairwell in the Paley Library. Second, we have student workers in the stacks shelving books and they can help you too. You can spot them easily because they were bright red vests that say “library staff”. So next time you can’t find a book – take a look around for one of our student workers.

We hope this information will save you time the next time you can’t find that book.