Facebook

Hmmm... facebook for school libraries. My first thought is, who is the intended audience? Students? Parents? Community members? All of the above? (For some of the "lonely" facebook pages I visited, none of the above?)

I visited an elementary, a middle school, and a high school library facebook page. The middle school and high school pages had around 60 likes each and the elementary page had around 120 likes. I thought that was interesting, since at the elementary should only be appealing to adults since kids aren't technically supposed to have facebook accounts and both the middle and high school should have had both student and adult followers.

The elementary facebook page I visited was the most interesting. The librarian posted frequently, a few times a week, and included links and pictures of students in her posts. She also had a cool project that she was trying to get going, which I thought was so cool. (check it out at Littlefreelibrary.org)

I think at the middle school and high school level, the librarian has to decide who the target audience is, and appeal to that audience. The ones I veiwed didn't seem appealing to students, but the links that were shared wouldn't be enough to interest me as a parent or as a teacher.

As an elementary parent, I would want to see current research regarding reading, new and popular titles, activities that the library is promoting and evidence of those activities through pictures and posts.

I am not currently a librarian, and I am starting at a new school in the fall, so it would probably be stepping on toes to start a facebook page for my new school library...  but maybe in the fall once I've had a chance to get to know the librarian!