Librarians Networking Virtually

It doesn’t matter where you are located, if you are a librarian by profession, chances are you are an expert in collaborating! In Connecticut, librarians who work with youth (including school and public librarians) subscribe to a list-serv called Goodnight Moon (hosted by the Connecticut State Library) where they bounce ideas off one another, share reading lists and discuss program ideas.

Other collaborative tools where librarians may share professional ideas and reading and network include Second Life, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs. The New Mexico State Library has put together a particularly great resource list for youth services librarians.

Regional or state-wide library consortiums like Connecticut Library Consortium (CLC) host professional development workshops and roundtables, where librarians can network both in person and virtually. One of the school librarian roundtables at CLC has published a wiki to use as an online networking and resource-sharing tool.

Recently, I was particularly struck by the development of an impromptu list created by librarians all over the state of Connecticut via the GoodnightMoon Listserv. Thanks to Patricia Kujiu for compiling this fabulous Read-a-Loud list: Books that Work Every Time. Below are a few authors from the list who have attended BEA in the past. Do you have a favorite online tools for networking/resource sharing? Tell us more...

The Berenstains
Jules Feiffer
Maurice Sendak
Mo Willems