Johnson Co. library to step up online presence

A librarian-made YouTube video would teach inexperienced computer users how to set up and use email.

Brief online updates known as tweets would alert library patrons when bestselling novels or popular DVDs show up on library shelves.

A MySpace page would help the Johnson County Public Library reach out to residents who don't use the library or know what it has to offer.

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Those are some of the ways that the library district hopes to use social networking websites and other new technology. The library aims to increase its presence online to provide patrons with more access to library resources, to showcase library programs and to connect with younger, more tech-savvy residents.

Active use of social networking sites would help the library promote its services at little cost, have a stronger community presence, give people more reasons to use public computers.

Library staff will learn how to use social networking sites and monitor for inappropriate comments and answer questions online. The library hopes to launch Facebook , MySpace, and Twitter pages when it unveils a new website around February, librarian Angela Eck said

"These social networking tools provide us with many opportunities to bring our library into the 21st century," Eck said. "It's another way for us to be in people's lives, whatever time of the day it is. It will allow to reach out and connect with not only current patrons but also potential patrons."

Next year, librarians will blog about programming, produce YouTube videos and make it easier for grade school-aged children to use popular virtual interactive communities such as Club Penguin and Webkinz. The library district can create accounts on all of those websites at no charge, but librarians will have to spend time updating content and watching for inappropriate comments, Eck said.

Johnson County branch librarians could use Twitter to let patrons know when they get highly demanded items such as the new Star Trek movie, librarian Tod Jeffcoat said.

"When Amazon and eBay first came out, some people thought they would be a flash in the pan that they wouldn't stick around, that people won't buy things online," Jeffcoat said. "But these new sites are popular with today's generation and they're going to stick around."

Like Twitter, YouTube videos could be used for marketing and outreach, such as by touting the summer reading program, Eck said. The video-sharing website is very popular on public computers, and the library could use it as another way to inform patrons about library services.