28 October 2010

Who Do I Serve?

As the designer for the Alachua County Library District, I serve a variety of different people both directly and indirectly. The corporate hierarchy places me under supervision of the Public Relations Assistant to the Library Administrator, who serves the Library Administrator. Beyond this, the Library Administrator serves the Library Board of Trustees, who in turn take direction from the Library District Governing Board. The board serves the greater community.


I perform my duties largely autonomously and unsupervised, but I work in tandem with my supervisor as needed and in response to some projects approved by her, while others are not. I defer to her with any questions I may have regarding corporate governance and oversight related to design issues, material and equipment purchases, workflow management and reporting, and a historical perspective on older projects that may need updating or redesigned. 


The company that pays the bill for services rendered is, of course, the client, but for those people who send me project requests, I like to think of each of them individually as my clients. These are the people whose project criteria I must fulfill and the people who I want to have walk away satisfied with my efforts.


I may be assigned projects by my boss, the Marketing and Public Relations and Manager. I might also receive requests from the Library Director either directly or through my boss. I also receive project requests from any administration staff member, from the Public Service administrators, the Literacy Coordinator, Automated Services, Circulation, or even Facilities. 


But by and large, the majority of requests I fulfill on a day-to-day basis are made by librarians of all levels, from program and event coordinators to branch managers. And in turn, the patrons are the consumer end-users of the products and services we offer and promote.

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