Using Facebook and Twitter in Libraries

     When looking into how social media and technology is used in libraries, I ran across a few examples that I found to be very enlightening and inspiring. Since I am from a small school district, only 6 campuses, I realized how much more we can do to help promote technology and literacy with the use of social media. One example that left me feeling inspired was from Albany High School Library. They use Facebook to promote and suggest books to students, give information about goings-on in the library, and share links and ideas that can be used in the classroom.

     Although these suggestions are helpful and look to be authentically made for the students by the librarian, the actual  page only has about 29 viewers. I believe that it is a good resource to use, but some could say that a library webpage will also do the trick. 

     Another example of Facebook being used is Parkview Middle School Library. The majority of this  webpage is used to promote books to students based on their likes. They do include links to other webpages, which are used to help engage students and be a fun way to see what else is out there, but it also only has about 23 viewers in total. 

    From what I have seen between these two libraries here are some pros and cons:

Pros- 

1. Promote library programs and events
2. Share popular or newly acquired books
3. Share links and pages students may like
4. Give teachers ideas, examples, technology apps
5. Post quickly 24/7

Cons- 

1. Can be similar to the library webpage, so many may not follow
2. Smaller districts may not have access to 1:1 ratio of technology to use with students
3. Posts/ comments from others are added without needing a mediator 

    In addition to Facebook, Twitter is taking the education world by storm and the following are some examples of how Twitter is beneficial to libraries based on what they can learn from other library leaders. 

    If librarians use Twitter they are able to share links to helpful or interesting websites that multiple people can view. For example, I loved how in the Young Adult Library Services Association share one such tool that I didn't know about before:

   Being able to learn from others has never been easier because a tweet is something concise and can be quickly saved to view again. Another link I found interesting was the following one regarding MakerSpaces. Adding a MakerSpace to our campus has been something that the librarian and I have been wanting to do, and hopefully with these ideas we can begin adding them soon!

     In addition to YALSA, I found two library leaders, Jim Lerman and Kathy Schrock, who I felt helped share wonderful resources that I didn't have access to before. It is very helpful to see who these leaders, in addition to others, follow in order to help build up our knowledge and resources. Here are a few posts of theres that I enjoyed reading on:

  This post above is great for reflection on what we do in our classrooms, and what else we can add to them. 

   The following posts that both Lerman and Schlock shared show topics that I am interested in incorporating in my campus, and it is great to see what resources and ideas they share when it comes to these ideas: 

     Ultimately what I learned from this experience was that Facebook and Twitter have a lot to offer in our profession. It may be a little nerve-wrecking at first to try something new, but in the long run it will benefit our students in becoming creative and collaborating individuals. Plus, they showed me that it is okay to play around with new ideas in order to become a life-long learner.