Those of you who are familiar with LRS staff may know that a couple of us–Dave and Linda–are photographers. So, we were excited to come across a statistic that touched on our interests in both libraries and photography: a recent Pew study found that more than half of Millennials (ages 18-33) have shared a selfie online, as have about one-fourth of all Americans.
How does this relate to libraries? In January, the New York Public Library designated a day as “library shelfie day.” On this day, they invited patrons to share photos of books (their library’s or their own) on social media with the hashtag #libraryshelfie. Other libraries, such as those at the University of San Francisco, University of California-Davis, and Delaware County Community College joined in on the fun, either by encouraging their users to participate, or by posting photos of their special collections and their staff with their favorite books.
Did your library participate in #libraryshelfie day? If not, why not hold your own event? This is a nice opportunity to encourage your users to engage with you on social media, as well as to reach out to Millennials, who, according to the Pew data, are particularly likely to share.
Note: This post is part of our series, “The Weekly Number.” In this series, we highlight statistics that help tell the story of the 21st-century library.