WebJunction

This is an exploratory topic.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that *all* professional public librarians (leastways those who have direct patron content) should be required to have their own blog on their employer's website. This is separate, of course, from any they might wish to have on their own.

The reason is to demonstrate to the public that they are worthy of being called "library professionals" -- a blog allows them to demonstrate that they read new books (important, no?) and are aware of the issues of the day. It also allows us to differentiate our librarians by topic expertise. If a library user knows that a particular librarian is better acquainted with history it only makes sense that he/she would contact that person with a history question.

This is not to say that others, paraprofessionals and non-librarian professionals, shouldn't have a blog on the library website ... but professionals must.

I should also note that such blogs will need to represent the library's neutral POV rather more than the POV if the individual.

What do you think?

Hi Betha,

The thing is (in my view anyway) ... public service librarians (if not all librarians) need to demonstrate their competence if they are to be relied upon to do reader's advisory work or reference. Our profession, I think, has suffered from years of anonymity and, as a result, easily hidden incompetence.

We're asking people to trust our judgment. We need to show them why they should.

I agree that blogging could be a great way to demonstrate the expertise of library staff...but only if patrons can find and read the blog!

One library blog I keep in my reader comes from the Santa Fe Public Library (http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/)...this isn't my home library, but the POV of the blog is friendly, cheerful, and informative and I read it as an example of how libraries can communicate well with their patrons. In addition, I can definitely see how this blog would be a community resource, with posts on current events in Santa Fe, updates on the library's building projects, and reading recommendations.

However, even this blog isn't doing everything you're suggesting, in part because it seems to be the responsibility of a single person, rather than the entire reference staff.

I think there are pros and cons to this approach, especially from an organizational perspective--a single poster may be the best use of resources as a library begins to blog; also, giving responsibility to one or two people with the ability and passion for the project may make it more likely to succeed. On the other hand, drawing the entire staff in to a project like this might be important for creating group ownership and, if done well, would definitely show the breadth of resources available through the library!

There is a library blog (as opposed to a blog by someone who works in a library) that has been setting a great example for sharing the library staff professionalism and personality. It's the St. Joseph County (IN) Public Library blog. It was written up in the Feb '05 Library of the Month.

It is totally public-facing, bringing the latest library news and events (including snow and holiday closures) to patrons, along with very personal POV book recommendations and recaps of events. The wonderful thing IMO is that there are many voices chiming in here. I counted 8 different people posting the 10 entries currently showing on the blog page.

It's less intimidating and less onerous to share the blog space. I think the bloggers stimulate each other to post cool things and get creative about sharing thoughts and opinions. It's hard to keep up with blogging duties --at least I find it so. If you're trying to introduce your staff to the whole idea of blogging to the public, it's a much more supportive atmosphere to let them jump into the pool together.