How to provide quality customer service in the face of budget cuts

Abstract

Most academic libraries have been experiencing cutbacks in staff and resources and are expected to do more with less. In response to a statewide financial downturn, the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries created a strategy to reduce the number of staffed service points. By the end of spring 2012, UNT Libraries had successfully merged six service points into one. This article presents an overview of the steps the Public Services Division took to effectively manage these mergers and cross train library support staff, as well as provide suggestions for other libraries considering streamlining their service points.