Library environments and the methods of providing services to library patrons are drastically changing with the availability of new technologies. Online public access catalogs are replacing card catalogs, CD-ROM databases have encroached upon the domain of their paper counterparts, and newspapers, encyclopedias, and dictionaries are also available in automated formats. Consequently, library roles have been affected as well. For example, technical services librarians are becoming the human interface to bring technology to the patron. In this paper, a technical services librarian shares her personal experiences as she ventured into the world of public services, otherwise known as the "patron zone." The librarian identifies the challenges she encountered during her career transition as well as the technical skills that she brought to the reference desk, the bibliographic instruction classroom, and the OPAC (online public access catalog) training session. (Author/MAB)