Portion of a panel presentation given at ALA's annual conference in Washington, DC in 2010.

1. Social activities bring faculty
and staff together to provide
better customer service

2. M. Teresa Doherty
Head, Circulation
and Information
Services
James Branch Cabell Library
Virginia Commonwealth
University
Richmond, Virginia

3. Thesis Statement
Breaking down hierarchical
barriers between library staff
through shared social activities
promotes stronger interactions
and better service to our
customers.

4. (Translation)
Being able to laugh with your
bosses and colleagues at work
makes it easier to ask for
their help when you need it.

5. John Ulmschneider
University Librarian
and fearless player
of library picnic
games
Virginia Commonwealth
University

6. Can your university
librarian do this?
Picnic game challenge:
arrange a group of books into
correct Library of Congress
order in the quickest time.

7. Anyone can play!
Head of Media and Reserve Services
Cataloging Staffer
Circulation Staffer

8. And the winner is…
For 3 years in a row,
the university
librarian did not win.

9. Picnic Games: photos
Photo guessing games, such as
“match the photo of the
toddler to the library staff
member of today” and “match
the pet to its owner.”

10. Pet Matching
Challenge: match
the library staffer
to the photo of
their pet(s).

11. Who owns who?
?
?
?

12. Picnic Games: counting
How many X’s in the Y?
(keyboard keys in ajar,
binder clips in a box, pages
in a stack of gift books,
etc.)

13. Art and Engineering
Challenge: build a
tower out of
marshmallows and
uncooked
spaghetti