Blogging for Readers

I love blogging. It fulfills that frustrated writer in me and I love the ease of it. Up until now I have maintained this blog primarily for my own benefit. That others read what I write is just a plus. After attending the recent CSLA conference and hearing what others have done with their blogs and wikis I decided that I needed to branch out. I started thinking about how I could incorporate a blog into my library program. What I came up with can be found at Laurellibrary.wordpress.com .

The first obstacle to creating a blog that students and teachers might read is finding a blog service that our ever diligent filter wouldn't protect them from. I received several different recommendations and decided to go with Wordpress. I wanted to be able to create entries at school as well as on my own time. I also wanted staff and students to be able to get to it. So far so good.

The next, and even more important, part was to decide the purpose for the blog. I needed to have a theme that would make others want to read it. One of my goals in the library is to help students enjoy reading. That became the premise for my new blog. I decided that I would read new books, old books, classic books, picture books, etc and then "book talk" them for the students. I started with Each Little Bird That Sings because I just loved the characters in the book. I am going to try to add a new book each week.

The last part of setting up my blog is promoting it. How am I going to bring readers to my page? Library Learning 2.0 spoiled me. I had a cheer leader assigned to me and I could always count on someone reading what I wrote here and commenting with a pat on the virtual back and maybe a suggestion. But most of all there was encouragement.

For my new library blog I have to be a little more forward. Maybe a lot more forward. I emailed my whole staff, the other library staff in my district, my technology mentor and the assistant superintendent over curriculum. I told them why I was doing the blog and where they can find it. I put a link on our school website. I also plan on putting a shameless plug for my blog in the school newsletter first chance I get.

Thus, my new blog has been inaugurated. It's a little like opening a store and hoping for that first customer to walk through the door. The open sign is lit.