Post #3: Blogs in Libraries February 24, 2008

Blogs (and other forms of social networking sites) seem to be an ever-growing part of Web 2.0, but they also serve an important role in professional dialogue. I know that since I’ve started the GLIS program, I have been reading about five librarian blogs a week to stay current with new trends and issues and just to learn concepts that I’m not familiar with. However, since I’ve started to blog, I’ve often wondered how blogs are actually used in libraries and if people read/respond to them. So, I decided to do a little research.

The first library I looked at was my own public library. It does, indeed, have a blog that a librarian updates relatively frequently, announcing upcoming library and community events, interesting reads, etc. While the posts are brief and informative, it’s hard to tell if patrons actually read the blog since there are usually no responses to the posts. If the library would like patrons to respond, what might help is adding a catchy phrase or question to which patrons can respond and possibly even dialogue with other patrons.

Another public library in my vicinity uses a form of blogging, which they call LibVlog. I love this! They post videos that they have created and some (I believe) that they have found from YouTube. The video posts range from a weekly update about “what’s happening this week at the library” to book promotions to informational videos about a variety of topics (presidents, how to make a book/movie) and reviews of books and music. Again, it’s hard to tell how often these videos are viewed, but I’m guessing that more patrons would watch these videos rather than just read a promotional post about upcoming events (they are much more engaging and entertaining).

I was surprised about the lack of high school libraries’ blogs in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Many of the schools in the northwest suburbs often claim to be on the crest of technological wave, but not many of the school libraries have adopted Web 2.0 tools, which is surprising given the fact that their patrons are very familiar and adept with these tools. One high school library blog I did come across, though, uses their posts to promote and review books. Students have responded to a couple of the posts, and they have added book reviews of their own. However, the post numbers are minimal. Nevertheless, the fact that this school library has a blog does help in showing that they are on the forefront of connecting with their patrons in different ways.

I decided to check out one other library blog for comparison’s sake, so I looked at the Library of Congress’s blog. I have to admit LC’s blog is pretty interesting. Most of the posts relate to noteworthy issues related to LC’s collection, but there are several others about blogging and other Web 2.0 tools/resources. Plus, people actually read and respond to the posts. This blog has even been nominated for SXSW Web Award!

After looking at just a couple of these blogging examples, I can definitely see how more libraries could use blogs to promote their services and to reach more patrons. 2 best = LC’s and Arlington Heights.