Thing 3 - Personal brands

I should know a bit about branding - it fell into my Masters dissertation like poo from a pigeon, and once it was there, it was hard to get rid of (very much like pigeon poo on my car). However, considering library brands is a bit different from considering your own personal brand. After all, a library is a business, a service, an entity, a building, a concept, whereas I am just me. I haven't ever considered that I might need to "brand" myself to project a particular image, although we all do it to some extent in the way we dress, our hairstyles, even the way we talk.


Dress and personal appearance is a bit of a minefield in the library world. The following questions have been raised not just in the service I work in, and form part of the debate over personal vs. professional.


Is personal appearance important at work? I would say yes, as staff represent their employer to their customers. A pride in one's own appearance implies a pride in one's work. A sloppy appearance could indicate a sloppy attitude at work. First impressions are important: how many people wear a suit to their interview? How many of those then continue to wear business dress once they have secured the job?


Should there be a dress code in libraries? Is it important to wear a shirt and trousers/skirt in order to be professional? Are jeans ok? Does smart = good at your job? Where do you draw the line between personal expression and ensuring that staff represent the brand?


Newcastle City Libraries introduced a uniform for staff, which has become the norm, and created a team spirit that was lacking before. A lot of libraries identify floorwalkers and customer services staff with brightly-coloured sashes to easily enable identification. I wear a branded lanyard with my ID badge attached to identify myself to staff, students and security personnel. In this context, is the clothing worn incidental?


Does a service user treat you differently based on the clothing you wear? Sometimes in an Academic Library it is difficult to distinguish the staff from the students as casual dress is the norm. Does this create a more friendly atmosphere where students can easily interact with the staff without feeling intimidated by suits? Or does it make it harder for students to find a staff member because their clothes make them blend in with the students?


Does anyone know the answers to these questions? Does it really matter?

Whether or not you believe it is right to judge on appearances, most people do it. How often have you been walking down the street and noticed an unfortunate wardrobe choice (all-over leopard print, anyone?) or a teenager with his jeans held up just under his bum and made a value judgement about that person? Yesterday my husband asked: "Does [X] own a top that's not a vest?" in reference to someone we know who represents the "chav" brand.


In considering what makes a brand, libraries should consider their staff as being part of the package, as they represent the human element in the organisation. Face-to-face interactions with customers advertise the brand and its values only when it is clear that library staff are representing the library. How does the library see itself? Businesslike? Casual? Friendly? Stern? Scary? Do the staff represent this in their personal appearance? If not, why not?

Library people are brand ambassadors: for the library service they are employed by; for the profession; for themselves. The "Librarian" brand conjures up many images (twinset and pearls or tweed jacket with leather elbow patches are the stereotypes that most often spring to mind). Considering how we as library folk represent the brand to others is worthy of more attention.