Benefits to your library users
- Reference and information services when, where, and how your patrons need it
- Library services provided beyond your library’s normal hours
- Meets your library users when and where they have an information need
- Offers 24/7 statewide and global support for whenever your library users have questions
Benefits to your library
- Adds additional reference access points for higher statistics
- Demonstrates your library’s willingness to go beyond traditional services to meet their 21st century information needs
- Potential to reach new library users
- Furthers your mission and vision statements, offering an additional point of outreach
- Increases your own profile, while being part of an innovative and popular statewide collaboration
Benefits to your staff
- Cutting-edge reference skills for library staff members
- Improves staff reference skills through training, mentoring, and collaboration
- Connect with hundreds of reference staff throughout Pennsylvania
- Get access to subject experts for those challenging questions
Benefits to participating libraries
- Receive your own, customizable, virtual reference service
- Ability to offer live virtual reference, as well as email and text reference
- Demonstrate relevance by meeting patrons when and where they have a question
- Provide a new, online library service at little cost
- Knowledge that by contributing a few hours of staff time a week, you will be helping to provide library services to all Pennsylvania residents
