Elaine Jennerich

Elaine Jennerich began her customer-service "career" working in her father's pharmacy. During college she worked summers as a children's librarian assistant in her hometown public library. While studying for a master's degree in Library Science at Drexel University, she worked part-time at the German Society of Philadelphia where the majority of customer service work was done by phone and letter (no email then!). The variety of her early experiences convinced her that working with customers was the best part of library work.

Her Ph.D. in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh concentrated on public service, specifically the verbal and nonverbal skills needed to conduct successful reference interviews. Subsequently, she went on to co-author The Reference Interview As A Creative Art, now in its second edition. Her career led to her to become head of a small corporate library, a head of reference, director of a small college library and head of circulation. At the University of Washington, she became the Coordinator for Staff Training and Development ten years ago. There she develops and teaches classes and workshops on customer service topics regularly to all levels of staff, including student assistants. Elaine loves technology and all the possibilities it brings, but she loves people more and strives to make sure that the human element and excellent customer service remain paramount in libraries.