Council staff working in customer services and libraries are receiving training in each other’s jobs, councillors have been told.
Brighton and Hove City Council is moving its face-to-face customer service teams out of their current offices and into libraries from May.
The council’s head of library services Ceris Howard told councillors that some customer service officers were training to be library officers and could find themselves running “story time” or heading to Woodingdean to work in the library there.
She was speaking at a meeting of the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Tuesday 18 March).
Labour councillor Amanda Grimshaw raised concerns about the job shift. She said that councillors had previously been told that librarians were the third-most trusted profession and some studied for a specialist degree for their role.
Councillor Grimshaw said: “It’s been said it’s going to be wonderful that our customer service staff could potentially be doing story time and librarians are primarily council officers.
“Have we asked our librarian staff how they really do feel about this?
“I have had some feedback. I know lots of people in the city and I don’t think everybody was jumping with joy at the idea that their professionally qualified role is being changed.”
She was also concerned about safety in libraries, saying that there were specialist security officers to protect customer service staff at their current places of work.
Ms Howard said that library officers and customer service advisers were on the same grade and did not have to be qualified librarians.
She said: “We don’t require that qualification for any of our staff in the library service in Brighton and Hove any more.
“The relevant experience and other qualifications are useful to have. We have a mixture at the library manager level but at library officer (level) we don’t expect that.”
Ms Howard said that security staff were on site seven days a week at the Jubilee Library as part of the PFI (private finance initiative) contract and there was a concierge at Hove’s Carnegie library.
Green councillor Chloë Goldsmith asked how people would be made aware that customer services staff were moving into the libraries.
Councillor Goldsmith said: “People are going to be used to using customer services over a long time.
“People without internet may not know and we’re going to have people showing up to Hove Town Hall who are going to be redirected and get ‘outreach’. It’ll be good to know what outreach is going to be done.”
Labour councillor Jacob Allen, the council’s cabinet member for adult social care, public health and service transformation, said that publicity was planned through the council’s external communications team.
Councillor Allen said: “People on the day will be outside both sites signposting people where to go, along to the Jubilee Library or along to Hove Library.
“I plan to be outside here (Hove Town Hall) signposting people in a hi-vis jacket, doing my bit.”
Older People’s Council representative Keith Jago said that there were a significant proportion of older people – over-50s – who should be considered.
He said that they might struggle to cope with technology and would rather have a face-to-face interaction with a council officer than go into a library to use a phone or computer.
Councillor Allen said that residents can go to libraries and ask any query they can currently ask at the existing customer services offices.
He said that Age UK estimated that there were between five and six million people who were digitally excluded in a country of 70 million and the council would ensure that residents would continue to have face-to-face access if needed.
The council said that it intended to keep face-to-face housing services at Bartholomews House, opposite Brighton Town Hall.sat
