Libraries Use MySpace to Attract Teens
More and more libraries are taking advantage of the popular social networking site
Joan Oleck -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2007
The Sunnyside Regional Library in Fresno, CA, has a MySpace page that hosts a 10-minute documentary explaining why parents shouldn't fear the social networking site. And the Hennepin County (MN) Library's MySpace page makes life a lot easier for students working on assignments—it lets them bypass the library's home page and link straight to the central online catalog.
Although MySpace has been getting a bad rap for attracting online predators, libraries nationwide are using the popular site to their advantage: to attract more tweens and teens. At last count, 55 public libraries in the U.S. and one in Canada had a MySpace page, complete with eye-catching banners, animation, and sound effects.
Marilyn Turner, Hennepin's librarian for Web services, reports that other libraries regularly seek her advice about how to set up a MySpace page and get approval from higher-ups. Her reply: simply make the case that it's a great way to reach out to teens—a sometimes neglected and often misunderstood segment of the library population.
Turner has two librarians monitor and update Hennepin's MySpace page. And having oversight is an important move. "It's a way to show that you know what's going on in the community," says Linda Braun, chair of the Web advisory committee for the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), adding that if someone is designated a MySpace "friend" of the library, there's a certain level of trust involved.
MySpace is also a wonderful way to stay in touch with teens. "They don't leave home phone numbers, but they're constantly checking their MySpace page," says Lisa Lindsay, the teen librarian at Sunnyside.
Hennepin reports more than 21,000 monthly MySpace page views since it launched last year and 500 weekly pass-throughs from its MySpace page to its library TeenLinks page.
And teens are sending messages to the library. "We checked out your book search, and we were so bummed not to find GAMEPLAY: The Genesis Portal in your list," wrote a group of young readers to Sunnyside's MySpace page.
YA authors—like Meg Cabot and John Green—know that MySpace is a great marketing opportunity, with many agreeing to become "friends" of libraries on their MySpace pages.
