Librarians on Facebook

It seems everyone has staked out a presence on social networking hub Facebook, and librarians are no exception. The Library 2.0 Interest Group, Librarians on Facebook, and Don’t Mess With Me, I Worked in a Public Library are among the hottest groups featured recently on iLibrarian, the blog of reference specialist Elyssa Kroski (Librarians who Facebook pictured at right, clockwise: Kroski, with feathered friends; Rochelle Hartman and Michael Porter; Joanna Aegard (and Old Faithful?); and Cindi Trainor.

While social networking was pretty new to university librarian Laurie Charnigo when she co-founded Librarians and Facebook a year ago, the “trend” has evolved into a valid method of communication, she says. Still, she’s had less success with Facebook as an outreach tool. “It seems students are not very interested with any sort of educational experiences with online social networks,” says Charnigo. Kroski herself belongs to 10 library Facebook groups. She writes: “I am on [Facebook] daily, updating my profile, keeping informed about what others in the field are doing, and turning people into zombies.”