On a Monday in November, it felt like I was looking behind the curtain of a grand theatre. Everything had happened quickly. After getting the idea for a FUN staff visit and green light from my home organization, I was warmly welcomed to the University of Helsinki Library by University Librarian Minna Niemi-Grundström. Many reasons to smile.
I work in the Joensuu Campus Library of the University of Eastern Finland as a customer service representative. Basically, it means that in addition to the actual everyday customer service, I keep the wheels turning and actively do my share of developing it. To keep one’s thinking elastic, it’s vital to stop and consider what kind of useful practices have been invented elsewhere. On the other hand, it’s also valuable if you can also give something back at the same time. In this case, my curiosity was sparked by the huge scale of the University of Helsinki Library. I had a feeling that they have managed to tackle many everyday challenges that I haven’t even thought of. Right I was.
As the first impression suggested, I got to meet heaps of friendly and skilled library professionals. During the week of 13.–17.11.2023, my personal hosts were Information Specialists Markus Asikanius and Anne Kakkonen, whom I would like to thank among others for the first-class arrangements. My wishes were considered in the weekly programme: getting to visit different campus libraries and learning about the arrangements of customer service and how they deal with the multi-channel communication in today’s world. I was able to see a lot, but with a relaxed touch. The timing was excellent, a library colleague from Austria, Tamas Foldi, was also visiting the library. Hence, I had the opportunity to also visit the National Library and Oodi during the week. From Tamas I learnt about the everyday life of the Central European University Library in Vienna and Budapest.
Make no mistake, the best part of the trip was meeting and getting to know colleagues at different stages of their library careers. However, the fact that my turquoise notebook returned home with over 30 pages of handwritten notes hints that I also learnt a thing or two. Now that a few months have passed since my visit, I still find myself integrating interesting tidbits:
“Oh, their library tour was also available in audio format.”
“Hmm, they have come up with these clever job interview questions.”
“That’s right, they used this kind of shift system in the customer service.”
As a person in the early stages of the library career, these different perspectives feel valuable, as my experience of other libraries’ practices is still narrower.
As a final touch, my visit led to a wonderful surprise. On the last day, Assistant Librarian Anni Träff, whom I met at the Kaisa House, said that for a long time she had been planning a visit to another library that uses Alma and Primo systems. Anni, who has had a varied and long career at the university library, was excited to apply for a FUN staff visit to visit us – fast forward to the present, it was great to continue our chit-chat in May where we left off last time.
Thanks again to Helsinki and thank you Anni for the return visit!
Olli Hiltunen
Information Services Advisor
University of Eastern Finland Library
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