How enabling smartcard access to library staff meant wider organisational reach.
Gill Roberts, Library Assistant – University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
“This service has resulted in a steady flow of very grateful staff members visiting the library to get their smartcards renewed”
I have been a library assistant at the Health Library at County Hospital in Stafford since 2016. Like many health libraries, we are situated some distance away from the main hospital, so I am always trying to think of new ways to encourage staff to visit the library. I would like to share a few initiatives that have been successful and allowed us to promote library resources and services to staff that might never have visited us otherwise.
Smart Card Service
In the summer of 2019, I volunteered to become a smartcard administrator; this meant that I was one of many staff members who could reset passwords. A smartcard is a chip and pin style card that requires a passcode before it allows staff to access computer systems such as the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This resulted in a few staff visiting the library, but I soon realised that what they really wanted was for me to renew their smartcard for them after it had expired. The only way a smartcard could be renewed was for the member of staff to make an appointment with a security officer who wasn’t on site very often. I enquired whether I could also renew smartcards for staff but was told that this was not possible.
The following year, due to the pandemic, face-to-face appointments were cancelled completely so I now had to advise staff to fill out a form and post their smartcards to our other site and wait for it to be returned. It could sometimes take weeks to get the smartcard back. I requested additional privileges again so I could renew the smartcards and save staff time but access was again denied. Finally, last summer, I saw a post on the staff intranet that said over 130,000 smartcards were due to expire the following month so I volunteered again and suggested the library could become a hub where staff could get their smartcards renewed in addition to their passwords reset. Third-time lucky – extra privileges were approved and extended to all library staff. This service has resulted in a steady flow of very grateful staff members visiting the library to get their smartcards renewed and even resulted in one staff member nominating me for a Trust Values Award (Togetherness) which I received at the end of last year… shucks. This award made my day and made it all worthwhile.
Cartridge Recycling Point
This is another popular service that came about in 2020 when I discovered that used ink and toner cartridges would no longer be collected from the main hospital. I did a bit of research, sent a few emails, and arranged a collection service from the library with a national cartridge recycling company. Once we had received some empty boxes, we were good to go. We use Facebook and Twitter to promote this service and receive very positive feedback from staff.
Getting involved in Trust initiatives
My colleague, Jen Beardsmore, joined the library in 2021 and also came up with lots of different ideas to help promote the library. A few examples:
- Entries into the “Christmas Bake Off” and “Best Dressed Tree” competitions (Judged in person by our Chief Nursing Officer and C.E.O)
- Creation of a pop-up Wellbeing Zone for all staff to use (the jigsaw is proving very popular and often gets tagged by visiting staff/departments on Twitter)
- Creation of a history display board to depict the history of the chapel our library is situated in (the promotion of this generated lots of new visitors).
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope I have helped stir your imagination and encouraged you to think outside the box… 😊
HLG Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2023
Health Libraries Group 