#10: Your ILS probably doesn't need to know everyone's gender identity →

From Emma:

This one has bothered me almost since I began working in a public-facing part of the library, and I am excited to finally work at a library system that doesn’t collect gender information. I think that’s a consequence of an unusual and gratifyingly modern approach to creating patron accounts in the first place.

The Dallas Public Library does not require patrons to fill out a paper form as a routine part of signing up for a library card. Instead, a staff member just talks to an interested patron and fills their answers right in to our ILS software. From a workflow perspective, this is extremely gratifying. No more chasing down a patron who has walked away from the desk after turning in an application with a key piece of information missing—the system won’t let you save the new account if certain fields are unfilled. No more hoarding piles of paper with signatures and other personal information that then have to be properly stored and eventually disposed of securely. No more throwing away reams of pre-printed forms when the application is updated.

I liked all of this as a staff member, but I recently became a branch manager and my new perspective has really increased my appreciation for this choice. Even more than the benefits to staff, though, I appreciate the benefits to patrons.

First, because the conversational exchange required to create a card is already pretty long, it seems to have really encouraged the library to streamline what information we collect. For pretty much every piece of information we ask for, I can explain the reason why we ask for it to a patron without embarrassment. Gender is one of the many things that are regularly required on paper applications that we don’t ask for, which I hope is a nice change for trans patrons, genderfluid patrons, and anyone else who has a more complicated answer than the “male or female” that most of us are used to.

The verbal account creation process is also pretty excellent for patrons who can’t read, or who aren’t fluent readers. Every DPL patron starts out with a verbal explanation of library policies and verbal instructions on how their card works. Contrary to what many people expect, people with limited literacy absolutely use the library, and I am excited that they don’t have to ‘out’ themselves or sign a piece of paper they can’t understand in order to do so. It’s also helpful for people with physical impairments for whom filling out a long form might be anything from a hassle or impossible without help.

Lastly, the Dallas Public process allows us to get away from the language of “applications.” If you work in a library, you may not have thought about this before, but applications are normally things that can either be accepted or rejected, based on things outside of your control. However, someone who isn’t familiar with libraries is much more likely to think of a “library card application” in this context. “Come talk to someone at the library and we will sign you up for a card” is much more encouraging than “Come to the library to fill out an application for a library card.”

There are probably even more good features of this system, but this is all I can think of for now.