Businesses leverage excellent customer service to improve profitability. Although not profitdriven, libraries should leverage excellent customer service to achieve their unique missions. Evaluating and improving customer service practices will help a library determine if it is successfully serving its customers. The library should review three areas to improve customer service: the physical space of the library, how library employees work with library policies, and the communication skills of the library staff. By using the Take Five model, the library can make immediate, no-cost changes or plan for future improvements by taking just five minutes, every day, to assess specific areas. Over a few weeks or months, these small changes will result in better customer service. Take Five for Customer ServiceCustomer service is the most important, but often overlooked, element of running a business or a library. If a business fails to focus on customer service, it may lose sales, and thus, income. If a library fails to focus on customer service, it does not lose profits, but it loses good will, customers, and possibly even funding if the situation is bad enough. Small, incremental changes can lead to great improvements. Libraries can make customer service a priority by making changes in just five minutes a day, using the Take Five model. Imagine this…A customer who is lecturing you on appropriate collection development policies has cornered you, the library director. While listening to a discourse on proper social standards for libraries, you observe the following:

Librarians engage in reference interviews where knowledge oflegal research is necessary, but they may not have formal training in legal research. Understanding a few basic elements of legal research will create a foundation of knowledge from which librarians can learn to effectively help patrons locate legal resources. The author presents these elements and describes their application in the context of researching free online Pennsylvania legal resources, including special advice to clarify the librarian’s role when working with patrons who are conducting legal research. The author also discusses the value of librarians creating a toolkit of free online Pennsylvania resources.