To Facebook or Not to Facebook, That is the Question!

As I explored some different school library Facebook pages, I was excited about all the possibilities that can come from using Facebook to open up your library world!  Having a Facebook page for your library could be a great asset!  I saw postings about school-wide competitions, deadlines, projects, reminders, powerful quotes and more that were all centered around the libraries.  I also came across many book talks, reviews and trailers.  This is a great tool that is widely used that could really help promote excitement and participation for your library.

While many elementary school students may not have a Facebook page, many of their parents probably do. I've been seeing a trend with middle school through college students using other social media platforms instead of Facebook, but there are still many that use Facebook regularly and others who keep their page and still visit it on occasion.  And, again, there are parents who appreciate knowing what is going on!

I believe there are many advantages to using Facebook for this purpose.  And, the only real disadvantage I see is having another role to fulfill when librarians are already so busy- keeping up with the page, keeping it current and exciting.  However, this could be another teaching tool! Have a few top library student aides help with the project.  They will have great ideas!

A few sites I visited:

DiscoveryMiddleSchoolLibrary
Whitman Middle School
Brooks School Elementary Library

Here is a link to the Facebook  page I created for my library.  (Unfortunately, I don't really have a library yet.)

HPMSLibrary on Facebook