Chapter 3: Curation in public libraries

Tammy Ross

Valenza, J. K., Boyer, B. L., & Curtis, D. (2014). Chapter 3: Curation in public libraries. Library Technology Reports, 50(7), 18-26.

Summary

This article presents Q&A style interviews with three public librarians: Billy Parrot of the New York Public Library, and Amy Sonnie and Meredith Sires of Oakland Public Library. Both interviews reveal how social media curation, using channels such as Pinterest and Instagram, can help libraries promote areas of their collections and engage their user communities.

Billy Parrot runs NYPL’s Instagram page and maintains thematic Pinterest boards that promote the library’s Picture Collection, a traditional print collection of postcards, photographs, magazine clippings and other nostalgic images organized by subject headings. Some of Parrot’s thematic Pinterest boards promote items within the Picture Collection that connect to history and pop culture, such as the TV shows Mad Men and Downton Abbey. For example, Mad Men character Sally Draper’s Reading List ultimately links back to items in the library’s collection. “I like defining curation as the retelling of a story, maybe a visual story,” Parrot says. “From a curatorial standpoint, taking one subject and seeing it through different divisions, looking at books and music and films, rounds out a subject and gives you a more detailed picture” (p. 19). By connecting users to the library -- users who may come to the library and those who don’t -- the library is able to promote its collections. Parrot says tools such as Pinterest and Instagram make libraries more aware of the “possible audience” (p. 21). More than anything, though, Parrot says this type of digital curation is fun.

Amy Sonnie and Meredith Sires use social media to promote Oakland Public Library’s TeenZone. Digital curation allows them to “share materials in a more immediate, interactive and visually appealing way” (p. 22). In addition, they add, using Pinterest enables them to highlight services and items in the collection without having to update the website, which often involves cutting through layers of bureaucracy. “Pinterest allows us to be both dynamic and responsive to new ideas,” Sonnie states (p. 25). Sires notes that social media tools like Pinterest enable librarians to learn from each other and collaborate.

Evaluation

I enjoyed the conversational Q&A format of this article. It seemed like the librarians interviewed were talking directly to me. If I were a librarian, I would definitely experiment with social media as a way to connect patrons to the library’s collection, programs and services. It’s always fun when people connect on social media over things that interest them. It makes sense that librarians use social media tools to generate engagement and interest in all the library’s collections have to offer. This is one area where the library I am studying needs to improve.