Pros and cons of having an integrated service desk at an academic library

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Recently my library integrated the reference help desk and lending desk into one service point where library assistants deal with both lending and simple research queries.  Here are the pros and cons of this change.

Pros

  • It allows library assistants to develop their research skills
  • It frees up liaison librarians (LLs) so that they have more time in the day to do other more specialized tasks
  • At times the desk is very quiet, especially in the evenings and early mornings and so it is a waste of staff resources manning a separate reference desk

Cons

  • LLs are unable to "keep their finger on the pulse" by being on the help desk and seeing what sort of inquiries are coming in from students and faculty
  • Students may not get the same quality of service with their research inquiries that they would with an LL (although they can be referred to an LL if the query is complex)
  • Answering reference queries adds to the workload of library assistants who may already have a full workload with various lending duties

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