In 2012 an independent poll of Fresno County residents revealed that many potential voters did not know about the library or else thought about it in very limited terms; library card holders totaled only one-third of Fresno County’s population; and from 2005 to 2012, reference questions in branches dropped by 46%. The Pew Research report Library Services in the Digital Age (2013) reported that “80% of Americans say reference librarians are a ‘very important’ service of libraries.” FCPL also noted that information-seeking adults, especially those with mobile devices, increasingly sought information online and from known and trusted acquaintances. However, these potential library customers did not necessarily know about all the vetted library resources online or how to use them effectively.

The key element of WoW! is its dedicated, direct, proactive service in the community, implemented using a team approac h. Critical process steps involved organization-wide planning toidentify budgetary impacts; select equipment; choose customer relationship management (CRM) software to track activity and enable the team to share information; hire an expert to train the team in proactive community outreach skills; move seven branch librarians to WoW!; plan for new staff to “backfill” once the librarians were no longer stationed in branches; and appoint a staff team to identify logistics, challenges and training needs for the staff that remained in branches.

In its first year the WoW! team gained confidence using new outreach and presentation skills, contacted over 2,900 organizations and issued almost 300 library cards. Lessons learned included:

1. Hire or screen librarians specifically for an outreach-intensive job such as WoW!;
2. Organization-wide planning is crucial; moving even a small team of librarians to a dynamic new service affects the entire organization;
3. Plan your metrics reporting process early and after implementing new software, such as a CRM; and
4. Even with careful planning, the dynamics of a new team can offer challenges and opportunities that result in ongoing course adjustments; actively involve the team in ongoing planning and regular evaluation.