I’m going to be blunt. Libraries have a reputation in the World-At-Large of “do it my way or hit the highway.” Hence, wholly for the worse, we have the unfortunate cultural image ingrained on our collective minds of the stiff-backed, cardigan-clad, tight-bunned librarian with pursed lips and flaming eyes, hissing out the age-old commandment of QUIET in the library.
(Just for the record, I don’t know any librarians like that. And I do know quite a few librarians.)
Now I’m going to be short and sweet. It’s because of that unfortunate and generally unjustified bad rep of libraries and librarians that I like the idea of Facebook (or other Social Networking) for Libraries. Facebook puts the library out there, where many of our patrons and patrons-to-be already are, telling our story, promoting our resources, offering our services, and most importantly opening a dialog about what the library can do for us, right now, TODAY. And it’s not about being quiet. In fact, it’s a conversation that anyone in our network or community can join, requesting titles, recommending books, asking about services or events—even finding out who else among our friends will be there. Facebook gives libraries an avenue to advertise what they do best, and it’s all about opening up, sharing, learning, entertainment, having fun, finding information, and engaging with the world in a whole variety of ways—be it with homework help, joining a book group, attending children’s story times, meeting (or promoting) your favorite author, tracing your family tree, finding a long-lost and well-loved book/story/movie through a purchase request or Interlibrary Loan. The list goes on and on. Facebook puts libraries in the community, in the world, and on the map. It’s not the only way to get our story out there, but it is one way among many, and let’s face it, it’s where a big ol’ segment of library users and future library users already congregate, so to speak. That said, the more library events, cool links, and discussion groups that spring up on the library Facebook page, the better. Let’s face it, it’s a win-win situation.
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3 comments:
i think your post is as good a synopsis as i've seen anywhere, not just the potential use of FB, but of the bigger underlying idea of 2.0 -- pushing information to people, not waiting for them to come to us -- going where the customers are.
john fosset just sent out a link to a study on the research habits of "the google generation." very interesting findings - things i think we need to pay close attention to.
i remember a conference at the UW about 5 years ago on the "future of training". panelists talked about a number of different innovations, blended training etc. then someone said the future of training is google. silence. but it became clear very quickly that he was right - information on demand, when you need it, in the form you want it.
i think that's what we need to continually move towards as well. not discard what we already excel at, just add to it.
bc
p.s. to the above:
information on demand isn't enough - we all know the hazards of GIGO. as many people have commented in their blogs, what we do best is help people find credible information, and give them tools to be discerning consumers.
in the "google gen" study - many respondents reported feeling uncomfortable asking librarians for assistance with searches - also, many of our catalogues are not particularly friendly - google fits their style much better.
whether we like it or not, i think we are in competition with a lot of forces out there - downloadable media, digital data sources and professional journals. and, again my opinion, libraries have something of a distaste for marketing ourselves - it seems a bit below us. but i think we have to adjust our thinking, stay relevant, do things that may be a bit uncomfortable to us at first.
ok - the soapbox has been pulled. again - i appreciate your thoughtful and insightful comments.
bc
Hey there wonderwoman! I wholeheartedly agree with Bobbo; you NAILED it re: Facebook, etc., and library applications. You go girl!
I REALLY hope that YOU are on the new committee that Jill is forming re: education/outreach, etc. [frankly not sure, entirely, what she's wanting it to accomplish, but I KNOW YOU WOULD BE GREAT to have on it). Would you please consider it, if you haven't volunteered already? You're experience and voice would be mucho helpful. Let me know your thoughts about it, when you've some time. Take care and glad you're ba-a-a-ack!
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