This is a preprint of an article co-written with Dr. Anne C. Moore, and Beth W. Lang, Head of Reference, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s W.E.B. Du Bois Library’s Learning Commons, only Reference librarians staff the Reference & Research Assistance desk. Surveys, a focus group, reference question transcriptions, and question-type tallies indicate this service model is strongly preferred by users and librarians over the previous tiered model.