Monday, December 29, 2008

benefits of social media marketing

A nice reminder of why we try to reach out in non-traditional ways to our teen patrons:

Thursday, December 18, 2008

More 2.0 Image fun!

The Blatant Bibliophile Blog has a great post up on copyrite free images, altering images and other fun word/pic meshes. Worth checking out!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Marketing in Libraries


One thing that libraries have always struggled with is marketing. WE know we're great, but somewhere in our natural introversion we have a hard time screaming from the rooftops that we will, actually, improve lives through our services.

SLJ, recognizing that libraries have a hard time promoting themselves, has created an inexplicably named blog, Bubble Room, to address marketing in libraries.

I don't know if it'll be useful, but hey, there it is, just in case.

I actually really like this post, which talks about how the Rochester Public Library has a calculator on their site that totals the amount patrons have saved by using the library rather than purchasing the books they've checked out. I've always thought that we should print their savings on the check out receipt. That's one way to achieve validation through knowledge. ;)

Monday, December 8, 2008

Spread your Holiday Cheer


Every holiday season, we look for ways to spread the cheer and help others have a better experience during what can often be a not so happy time of year.

Donating food to your local food bank is and easy way to help people in your community. There are probably donation bins all over town this time of year.

The United States Marine Corps are collecting donations for Toys for Tots, and the Salvation Army has their bell ringers and red kettles outside many stores where you'll be shopping.

I recently learned of another way to spread a bit of extra cheer. You can send holiday cards to wounded American soldiers and veterans through a program sponsored by the Red Cross called Holiday Mail for Heroes.

You can send your cards to the following address, but they ask that they are postmarked no later than December 10th. That's just two days away, but you've still got time to pop a card in the mail!

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456


If you're in the Oak Harbor Library during the next couple of days, look in the teen area for the cards to sign. I'll be sending them off soon.

~Anne

very blog post on bullying

From Danah Boyd's blog:apophenia

reflections on Lori Drew, bullying, and solutions to helping kids

The most important thing that we need are digital street workers. When I was in college, college students volunteered as street workers to help teens who were on the street find resources and help. They directed them to psychologists, doctors, and social workers. We need a program like this for the digital streets. We need college-aged young adults to troll the digital world looking out for teens who are in trouble and helping them seek help. We need online counselors who can work with minors to address their behavioral issues without forcing the minor to contend with parents or bureaucracy. We need online social workers that can connect with kids and help them understand their options.

Danah Boyd is a doctoral candidate in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley and a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Her research focuses on how American youth use networked publics for sociable purposes.

Thoughts?

troubling teen trend

Here is a disturbing new teen trend to be aware off: self-embedding.

'Self-Embedding' a Troubling Trend Among Teens

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Self-embedding, a disorder where people wound themselves and then place objects in the wound, is an increasing problem among American teens, especially girls, researchers say.

Has anyone seen this? I find it very worrisome :(

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

great article on M.T. Anderson

I'm a huge M.T. Anderson fan (though I confess, I have not yet found the time to tackle his newest installment of Octavian Nothing).

Here is a terrific article about him, and his belief that teens want to be challenged:

Tomes for Teens
M.T. Anderson Gives Young Adults What They Want: Complex Epic Tales They Can Get Lost In
By Bob Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 29, 2008; Page C01

"It's insulting to believe that teens should have a different kind of book than an adult should... They know the world is complicated, and "they can tell when a book is simplifying life."