10 Social Sites to Help You in Your Library

IMAGE: Generated by Bing Image Creator, https://www.bing.com/images/create, prompt: "a cat crazily typing at a computer on social media with intensity".

Social media is great for helping you stay connected with people who are miles or states away. It's a great communication device (although, maybe sometimes it's not the greatest). It allows you to reach a wide audience which comes in handy when you need to advocate for your library. But do you use it to help you IN your library? Here are a list of 10 social sites and accounts, in no particular order, that may be helpful to you in your library:

1. Instagram: Publishers (Bookstagram)

Small selection of publisher handles on Instagram:

@scholastic

@penguinrandomhouse

@flatiron_books

@celadonbooks

@aaknopf

@harpercollins

@torbooks

Publishers have their main account, but also have accounts for their subset imprints (ie. childrens, young adults, genre specific imprints — once you start following one, suggestions to follow the others will begin to pop up). Following these accounts — especially ones associated with your library grade level — are an excellent way to see what is new in publishing and to see trends in books. 

It is also a way to enter publisher-given giveaways. While you may not win anything, there is a chance you could win a free book or more for your library at no cost. I can tell you, I have a Little Free Library and I have won a good handful of books from at least half of this list. Clearly not a reliable source, but if your library has a zero budget, applying to all the giveaways you can might just give you a few new books for your shelves.

2. Instagram: steph (@starry.steph)

Starry.Steph is a bookstagrammer on Instagram (Bookstagram). She groups her reviews by themes, and shows you books you might see online, but are like hidden gems. Her reviews, geared toward young adult and adult books, are insightful and her descriptions make you want to read the book. Her account is great for finding books that may not be on everyone’s radar.

3. Instagram: Speech Therapy - Language & Literacy + Podcast! (@literacybasedspeechtherapy)

Literacybasedspeechtherapy is an excellent Instagram account that talks about children’s books and their story grammar / plot, the vocabulary, figurative language, speech sounds, predicting, sequencing, and more. She breaks down each book into their strengths for Speech Therapy so you can decide what book would be best for your student. Not only that, she also has a podcast and blog where she shares more Speech Therapy guides and lesson plans. Perfect for librarians who have elementary school students who struggle with most forms of speech.

IMAGE: Me! Selfie with a stack of children's books precariously balanced on my head. It fell soon afterwards. Picture was used on my Instagram (@book_end_littlefreelibrary) for a fundraiser (Picture Book Stack for a Cause) on July, 7, 2021 for homeless families with children to become self-sufficient. 

4. Pinterest: Library Lesson Plans Search

Conduct a general search of "Library Lesson Plans" in Pinterest. This general search within Pinterest allows you to filter by grade level (Elementary, Middle, High) for lesson plan ideas in your school library. By using this search, Pinterest will show the newest posts so you are sure to get new and updated ideas regularly. Then if you find a post you like, you can Pin it to your own board for easy reference later! Or you can get crazy and post your own ideas to share with others!

5. Facebook: Massachusetts School Library Association

The Massachusetts School Library Association's Facebook group is great way to connect with other librarians across the state of Massachusetts. Its news feed gives you posts that concern Massachusetts school librarians and keeps you updated on the MSLA conference in March. You are also allowed to post questions to be answered by its members, which is fantastic because you are asking a large group of actual school librarians. Who better to ask, right?

6. Bluesky: American Library Association (ALA) (@amlibraryassoc.bsky.social)

Not only the oldest and largest library association, the ALA is on top of all things library from book bans to advocacy to librarian recognition and more. They wrote the guidelines we, as librarians, all use. Bluesky has been receiving a lot of new people signing up and seems like the hip new place to be (I know what I said) so you can be sure that this account will be most accurate on all library information. Stay up to date with all their pertinent library news on their Bluesky account, @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social.

IMAGE: Me! Photo taken by my son. Picture was used on my Instagram (@book_end_littlefreelibrary) to celebrate International Paperback Day on July 30, 2020.

7. School Library Journal Blog Network

Small selection of SLJ blog network participants:

The Yarn

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Pearl’s and Ruby’s

Heavy Medal

Each of the School Library Journal (SLJ) blog posts come from their blog network. Feel free to follow the SLJ blog, or specifically go to the blogs that relate to your library. The Yarn focuses on children’s books, Heavy Medal is only written during book awards season about book awards (think Hollywood but for literature), Teen Librarian Toolkit is a professional development site for teen librarians, and Pearl’s and Ruby’s covers cultural institutions, social justice, and inclusivity in children’s, middle grade, and young adult books and librarianship. SLJ has other blog network sites to check out. Some are a few years out of date, but the majority are consistently being run.

8. National Library of New Zealand: School Libraries Blog

Ignore the fact that this is from New Zealand, the National Library of New Zealand blog on school libraries offers school librarians everywhere excellent information on library systems and operations, creating inclusive library spaces, strategies for digital literacy, and more. 

Be sure to check out their compiled and fantastically organized checklist on getting started in your own library — relevant to U.S. school libraries — that you can use to see what you should be aware of when you start your own school library. It is also an excellent list to reference if you think you might be missing something or to see if there is anything you should be doing that you didn't think of. It’s always good practice to see how other libraries are set up and what they are up to.

9. The Bookbub Blog

While this is a commerce site, the Bookbub Blog (say that 5 times fast) offers many book related blog posts. You can find ideas for your library displays, where to find free PDF books, Best Of lists, or helpful recommendations such as book to movie adaptations that a student might be in want of. Definitely geared toward young adults and adults, but it might give you the inspiration you are seeking.

IMAGE: Me! Photo taken by my phone's timer. Image shared on the Wellesley High School Library's Instagram (@wellesleyhslibrary) to promote our winter photo booth on December 22, 2022.

10. Feed Spot: 80 Best Library and Librarian Blogs

This listserv comprises a massive list of 80 library-based blogs from public libraries, school libraries, college libraries, librarians, and more. A great place to explore and keep up to date on what different places and people are doing within libraries, not just in Massachusetts. You can also subscribe to Feed Spot to get updated lists on topics you choose like book blogs lists, book talk blogs and websites, library technology lists, library podcasts, and more!

Bonus: My Blog!

I'm going to do a little self-promotion here and add my blog for your consideration for social sites that may be helpful to you in your library! Keep checking back for what's new!

What are some social sites you like to reference for your school library? Drop them in the comments!