I'm a Believer!

There has been a lot of hype concerning libraries and gaming, with professional publications touting incredible benefits. THPL started down the road to gaming over a year ago as one of many options for Out of School (OST) programming, proving to be enjoyable for our customers and beneficial to our staff.

I became a TRUE believer of gaming in libraries as a result of my interactions with customers during the Teen Tech Week gaming tournament and qualifying events. It was a marketing event made to order! I mingled in the crowds and took advantage of every opportunity to converse with teens and parents, promoting library services and learning more about their perceptions of the library, the services of interest to them, and amazingly, their preferences on how they wish to learn about upcoming events.

There are many documented benefits to gaming, but I believe one of the strongest arguments is that it can help libraries become involved in teen social networking and provide opportunities to promote other relevant library services to this demographic.

Flickring Libraries

There are so many good reasons for libraries to post photos to Flickr including enticing people to come to programs, encouraging them to come back to your web site again and again, sharing visual collections, etc.
And there are a great many libraries finding cool ways to use Flickr -- here are just a few.

Historical photographs from the Library of Congress

Celebrity Read Posters from Lansing Public Library

A Day in Allen County from Allen County Public Library

Podcasting in Libraries

Podcasting has been around for years but we noted in the eMarketer report posted earlier this week that the podcast-user base is growing at an incredible rate. How have libraries responded to the growing availability of this resource as a means of distributing audio and/or video content? The Boulder Public Library has podcasts created by teens linked from their Teen page. Visitors to the site can listen to the teens provide news from the library Teen Advisory Board, interview artists displaying art in the Teen Gallery, or listen to reviews on books, movies or music. The Denver Public Library provides podcasts of storytime favorites.

Many libraries are creating podcasts but I have found that the Pierce County Library in Tacoma, WA has found some very interesting and diverse uses which help to promote library services. They’re using podcasts to instruct parents on Early Literacy Skills, to inform the public on What’s New at the Library, How to Apply for a Job at the Library, How to Volunteer at your Library, Booktalks for Adults, Virtual “sightseeing" Tours of the Library for Children, Teens and Young Adults, Librarian Book Reviews, and an interview with the Library Director on her background and where she sees the library going in the new millennium.

Our library system has a wonderful collection, outstanding electronic resources, numerous special services, programming for every age group, and a very talented staff. How can we use podcasting to inform the public and expand our service base?

What Manga is all about

Heidi and Jennifer headed over

to USF yesterday

to share Manga, Anime,

and library info

with a group of teens.
And Japanese food

goes great with Manga!