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The Social Library
Laura Roche
University of Arizona
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[Social Media] is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.
(Eckerle, 2013)
The Public Library is a social place of meaningful community interactions. At the public
library, the community gathers both online and within the ‘brick and mortar’ to share
information. It is a place where information is no longer doled out by a gatekeeper but protected
by guardians. The Public Library is not a place of introversion, silence and secrets; it is a place
that joyfully celebrates outreach to the diverse community it serves. “As institutions rooted in
our communities, libraries are social institutions. Librarians belong in the social network” (Frank
& Tennant, 2007). The application of Web 2.0 (i.e. Social Media) will help public libraries
create a more inclusive, diverse and meaningful library experiences for the communities it
serves. Social media is a tool to assist librarians to fulfill the mission of the public library in the
21st century. Librarians understand that an integrated social media library is a possible, necessary
and exciting opportunity. Librarians are open to the change in service that integrates social media
technology and offers expansion into the library of the 21st century.The concerns that librarians
have about upholding the honored ethics of the profession of are valid. A mixture of cloud
technology, social media and corporate interests is threatening. It opens the door for the
possibility of destruction of privacy, mass corporate censorship, and integration of business
practices, such as monopolies, into the business of libraries. Librarians of the 21st century face
the issue of wanting to bring these new social media technologies to their patrons while
remaining vigilant to the flame of professional ethic
Running Head: THE SOCIAL LIBRARY
According to a December 2009, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 74 % of
American adults over the age of 18 uses the internet at home (Raine, 2009). The U.S. Census
asserts, in its 2011 survey of American households, that 71.7 percent of American households
reported accessing the internet, up from 18.0 percent in 1997, and 54.7 percent in 2003 (United
States Census Bureau, 2013). With the fashion of smartphone technology growing in minority
communities, it is predicted that these numbers will continue to grow. Librarians have two
professional responsibilities within Web 2.0 growth patterns and the disparity of access to
information and resources.
The first responsibility is to addresses the need to educate and create access for
communities and populations who are on the no access side of the digital divide. Through
outreach and educational programs, libraries can play an active role in closing the digital divide.
The second role, which is not as widely addressed, is to cease thinking, acting and serving as if
Web 2.0 is only young adults. 57% of seniors and 63% of the African American community and
Hispanic community can be reached by encouraging access and embracing of gathering
information through the internet. When libraries use social media to engage their patrons, they
are reaching the entire breadth and diversity of the patrons with through services such as
educational programs and community outreach. When libraries teach Web 2.0 skills, they are
increasing the diversity of their own social media networks. As a result honoring the values of
the library profession in a new and innovative way.
Micah May and Johannes Neuer have brought to New York Public Libraries the most up-todate Library 2.0 technology on the market. By partnering with Bibliocommons, they have
created a marvelous tool that assists patrons connect to the library and the other people in their
community. A well-orchestrated campaign to raise awareness of New York Public Library’s
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partnership with Bibliocommons has increased New York Public Library subscribers, fans, and
followers of the their social media to over one million. The New York City Library catalogue
receives 12 million requests for information per year and stands out as the best in library
technology (New York Social Media Week, 2013).
Library card sign-up was up 21% in September 2013 over the same period in 2011. The
New York City Public Library is one of the oldest, largest, and diverse public library systems in
the world. The Bibliocatolgue, integrated over the last three years, has features one would expect
from Amazon.com, Facebook and MySpace and allows patrons to rate materials, add searchable
tags to materials, share items with their social networks, create reviews of books, share quotes,
upload videos, create and edit descriptions of materials, and create personalized lists of materials
for themselves and others (New York Social Media Week, 2013). Through services offered by
the Bibliocatolgue, patrons can fill a virtual “bookshelf” with things they have read or would like
to read and share with others. The Bibliocatolgue invites patrons to be connected, and patrons
accepted the invitation to Library 2.0. The success of the New for the evolution of the New York
Public and their goals gives the profession of librarianship a map the future.
The profession of librarianship relies on a code of ethics which must be considered,
consulted and appeased when a library embarks on implementing new technologies. Librarians
are rightly weary of the Bibliocatolgue’s possibility of violating the values of intellectual
freedom which protect society from censorship and the privacy of patrons, as well as advancing
private interests at the expense freedom. Bibliocatolgue is more than a social media platform.
Bibliocatolgue is a cloud technology service. The conflict with the essential values of the
librarian profession does not lie with the social media; it lies in the threat to intellectual freedom,
censorship, privacy, and advancing private interests through cloud technology
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Cloud Technology is a term for delivering hosted services over the internet. The software
is in the Cloud; it is not in or managed on the server of the library. The data of patrons and
libraries is no longer on a physical server, which is owned and managed by the library and is no
longer controlled by the ALA code of ethics. Bibliocommons is offered only as a service hosted
by corporate servers and corporate interests. Michael Casey, is his recent Wordpress blog, states,
“Whether you call this “cloud” or “hosted” or “remote,” it all boils down to the same thingsomeone else controls the hardware and runs or manages the software. You and your library are
no longer in full control regarding access and management” (2013).
Corporate control of access and management of patron data creates present and future
conflicts with the core ethics of the library profession. The nature of business is to centralize
power (i.e. information) and create a monopoly. This can be seen in many historic scenarios such
as the destruction of the cottage industries in India, which Gandhi spent his life writing and
speaking about, the business practices of Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates, and the destruction of
“Mom and Pop” businesses by Wal-Mart. Once a corporation has centralized power, its nature is
to raise prices and ignore laws and ethical codes. Forward thinking librarians see this corporate
take-over of library data as a threat to the profession of librarianship. Although librarians would
love to provide social media catalogues to their patrons, they remain strong on their stance of
protecting the privacy of individuals, intellectual freedom, and freedom from censorship.
Libraries want to avoid corporations using the library to advance their business interests. With
the popularity of cloud services, librarians face the challenge of providing the service patrons
want while simultaneously protecting the values they hold most dear.
In my experience, librarians are the perfect guests at a dinner party—they are interesting,
informed curious, open and always want to know new things” (Bradley, 2007). Librarians are
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creative problem-solvers with friends in the community, an access to treasures of knowledge,
and the ability to adapt to change. The creative business solution to the conflicts of providing
social media catalogues can be found through cooperation.
The solution proposed by the librarian community is to create a nonprofit library social
media catalogue under the guidance of the American Library Association. In creating a library
cooperative, built on the model of farmers and crafts cooperative worldwide, the library would
regain authority over the ethics of the profession. The ALA would own the server and the data
collected would be managed, controlled and housed within the values and vaults of the American
Library Association. Libraries would be members of an ALA nonprofit cooperative cloud
service, not customers of a corporation. The nonprofit cooperative would be governed the ALA,
ensuring the values of the of the library community are upheld while providing the best social
media technology to the patrons. The ingenuity of ALA digital librarians will create innovative,
user-friendly social media bibliocatolgue which will compete on the free-market with other
OPAC systems while offering fair pricing and ethical service to libraries and patrons. As a
cooperative nonprofit partnership, unifying the best of Web 2.0 technology, member libraries
and the American Library Association is built to create an OPAC based on the ethics of the
profession “it does not require much imagination to begin seeing a library as a social network
itself. In fact, much of the libraries role, throughout history has been as a communal gathering
place, one of shared identity, communication, and action” (Maness, 2006). In creating and
participating in a nonprofit social media catalogue, overseen and guided by the wisdom of
American Library Association, librarians can provide the services that patrons need while still
honoring the values of the profession – It is the great leap forward.
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Works Cited
Bradley, P. (2007). How to use Web 2.0 in your library. London: Facet Publishing.
Casey, M. (2013). Micheal Casey:WordPress. Retrieved from http://www.michaelecasey.com
Frank, M., & Tennant, R. (2007). Social software in libraries: Building collaboration,
communication, and commuity online. Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Maness, J. M. (2006). Library 2.0 theory: Web 2.0 and its implications for libraries. Webology,
1-10.
New York Social Media Week. (2013). Social media week: Library 3.0--Introducing social
catalogue. Retrieved from http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/social-media-week-library30-%E2%80%94-introducing-social-catalog
Raine, L. (2009). Internet, broadband, and cell phone statistics. Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet
& American Life Project.
United States Census Bureau. (2013). Computer and internet use in the United States.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce.
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