A Pin Paints A Thousand Words: A Reflection on Pinterest

October- a time to jump in brightly coloured leaves, break out the pumpkin carving knives, and hide under the covers while watching The Exorcist. While it's usually a good month for most folks, I spent most of it re-reading my textbooks, reflecting on all the ways I could possibly botch my mid-terms. Ahh, the wonderful life of a college student. It can be some spooky stuff all right:  

Getting back to the point, libraries are ever-changing like the leaves on a maple tree. With all the technological progress, they seem to be adapting to the times quite well. Most libraries have joined and still commit to social-networking giants like Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter. And who can blame them? These three are most patrons' social networking bread and butters. 

However, libraries shouldn't ignore other social networking sites like LinkedIn, Google Plus, and Pinterest. 

While they might not necessarily garner massive recognition like Facebook does, these sites have tremendous potential in promoting library services and their usage among the public is growing at alarming rates. 

For simplicity's sake, today I will be focusing on how some libraries use Pinterest to benefit themselves and their patrons. 

While adventuring in the mystical land known as the Internet, I stumbled upon the Toronto Public Library's (or TPL's) Pinterest. 

I discovered that they not only marketed their branches through the use of photo sharing, but there were also boards dedicated to the library's children's programming and activities. TPL also promoted their reference library and digital archives by showing off their special collections. I even saw a board dedicated to their Bram & Bluma Appel Salon;located on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library, this place can hold everything from your standard business meetings to weddings.

As you can see, TPL has done a tremendous job promoting themselves though the use of Pinterest. Without it, I would've never known that LEGO clubs for children existed, or that the library hosted a digital collection of Audubon's Birds of America.

Collections and services that patrons might not readily know about are shown through many pictures on Pinterest boards. Thus, Pinterest and other social networking sites make the public more aware of what is offered at libraries in an engaging way. 

The only thing I wish TPL did more with their Pinterest is perhaps promote more of their adult-orientated services, but I still think that what they've done with their boards is excellent. If you want, you can take a look for yourself through this URL: https://www.pinterest.com/torontolibrary/

For now I'll be busy sipping on a good cup of chicken soup, trying to recover from the stress of mid-terms. I hope to enjoy autumn while it lasts.