This might be an unpopular opinion among academic librarians but I have to say it: I hate library tours and so should you. Oh also scavenger hunts. Basically anything that orients students in a "fun" way.

I'm sure many of you run library tours and feel that students really enjoy the opportunity to check out the library and learn about all the services that they have available to them. But really? They don't pay attention

There are about four types of library tours out there - to me at least. Short orientation tours of the library with introduction to services, open houses with "tasks", virtual tours for distance education students

But my absolute least favorite, number one hated type of library tour is the walk-and-talk (trademark Me or possibly the guy who wrote West Wing) - the type of tour where you have a librarian with ducklings/students

Watching students following a librarian and trying to keep up and pay attention was so disheartening, especially when they pass me at the reference desk and like, they have this look on their face...

of either sheer panic or sheer boredom. If I even see their face! Most of the time they're looking at their phones and pretending to pay attention. They're also usually carrying a map and taking notes.

One of the reasons I don't like tours is the disparity between the number of attendees and the number of librarians. When you have too many attendees, the librarian can't develop a good connection.

On the flipside, when there are few attendees, a librarian may feel like they have wasted their time on the tour. Most of us are pretty busy and having to take time out of day for a tour sucksss if no one is there

Also talk about disruptive. a group of people walking by your desk walking and talking? I would be so annoyed and bothered by it if I was a student (sometimes I'm bothered by it on desk when I'm in the zone)

Library tours also bother me on another level - it feels like an inauthentic instructional tool. By taking students on a tour of the library and showing them services that are available, you feel like you're teaching them about the Library

In reality, since these services are passing them by with no context whatsoever, they don't actually know what's going on or what the services could be used for. You've pointed out the reference desk...

...but what do you actually do at the reference desk? You can explain it to the attendees, but until they actually use the services at the desk, they won't know what they can do there. Real Experiences trumps spoken experience!~

I've talked so much about library tours that I'm sure you're wondering about scavenger hunts. What could I possibly have against scavenger hunts! I have the same issues with it as library tours

Ultimately, a scavenger hunts forces students to run around the library and to complete tasks or find information out and fill out a sheet. Rarely do students really engage with services in the same way they normally do

Students tend to be much more focused on completing the task than on really learning about the services they are using. Competition might not be the best way to teach library services - poo poo on gamification.

Here's an example of my least favorite scavenger hunt: a freshman student having to go to different service desks, asking for someone's name, and then taking their pic. Then they run without chatting.

Like, literally, the interaction is 5 seconds but it's so irksome. They don't learn anything about our services, they don't know what we can do for them, and they often don't think I'm a librarian!

So solutions right? Now that I've complained about these two things, it's time for solutions and making things better! Well no, not this time. I don't think there is a solution that I can just hand out to everyone

Technology will not be our savior. Installing beacons or ipads or homing pigeons won't magically turn tours into something deep and meaningful for students. Let's be realistic and think about our patrons.

As a profession, what can we do to get rid of inauthentic activities and really get our patrons to learn about our services in a way that will stick with them? Let's talk about this - not now, but soon.