NCLA Con 2025

As part of its brand-new library, which opened in Summer 2022, the Hagemeyer Library at Central Piedmont Community College features a service desk staffed by both Library and ITS Help Desk employees. This joint service desk provides students with a one-stop shop for their questions, placing ITS experts in a space where students are already located-the Library! While the collaboration has many positives, there have been challenges to overcome. While front-line ITS staff are present in the library, their supervisors are not. Each department has different priorities, scheduling needs, and hours of operation. Additionally, students don't always know who is library staff and who is ITS staff. Aligning service models has taken time, trial and error, and a lot of communication. Despite the challenges, this partnership has been a huge success. The greatest benefit has been to students, who can now get a wide variety of questions answered in one location. Furthermore, having trained ITS staff on-site means that library staff no longer need to attempt to answer technical questions without the appropriate training or access to specialized programs. Although many aspects of the service desk required careful planning, adaptation, and problem-solving, the joint service desk has now become a highlight of the library. In this session, we will share our experience with all stages of planning and implementing a joint service desk. Some of the topics we will cover include: Considerations when dividing up the physical space of a shared service point, Aligning hours and schedules, Challenges when one department's supervisors are not in the same building, Addressing conflicts between staff from different departments. Deciding whether a written agreement, such as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), is a helpful tool. Supporting staff who are not in your department. Practical strategies for enhancing multi-department partnerships.