For my social media tool, I chose to make an Instagram account for a pretend school library, as the school I work at already has a very active social media presence. The account I created is called @kdmsmediacenter for a fictional middle school named after one of my favorite children's authors, Kate DiCamillo. (The rabbit mascot is intentional, in honor of my favorite book of hers, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane). Screenshots are provided below of the account, the avatar, and the first post I made:
Overview of the account
Cover image for the first post.
The rest of the images on the first post.
A user's view of the first post and caption.
An up-close look at the profile picture.
I chose Instagram because of its appeal to both kids and adults; I wanted to make an account on an app that I knew both kids and their parents would be interested in, as Facebook and Snapchat generally only appeal to certain demographics. I also thought back to what Lucas John Jensen wrote in his article about choosing platforms you know students are engaged in; ultimately, a school library is for my students, and I want to be where my students are (Jensen, 2019, p. 28). I also think Instagram has tons of creative tools that allow for some really cool ideas, like making reels and doing interactive Instagram stories. I plan to use the tool not only to share materials and programs from the library, but I would also love for kids to write mini book reviews to post, as well; I think that would be a cool way to get kids involved, and it will be a great way to communicate with both kids and their parents. Collaboration can also be fostered amongst teachers by having them share their favorite books, share how they use the library with their classes, and make the library interdisciplinary.
Perhaps most importantly, I want to use Instagram to advocate for how vital school libraries are to a school and its community; in Dr. Green's words, I want to be a "frontline advocate." In a world where books and libraries are facing constant legal battles and challenges, I want to show my school's community that what we are doing matters. I want to show kids getting engaged with an excited about literature. I want to show all of the research skills I can teach my kids. I want to show that that literacy skills they learn in a library matter.
References
Green. (n.d.). SLIS 761 Harnessing the Power of Social Media to Advocate for the School Library [Google Slides]. iSchool, University of South Carolina. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rswnwL_QA16SjO3gE5KzLH26OeReTFxdJkJ3_xz8uYk/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00
Jenson, L.J. (2019). Integrating social media into online education. In L.S. Green (Ed.), Librarians as Online Course Designers and Instructors (pp.27-30). American Library Association.
Thanks Rachel, I agree with you about Instagram being used to get folks involved with your programs. I like your idea of having students share their favorite books and to write book reviews. I've yet to tackle the making reels aspect of Instagram but I may supervise some of my students while they make something for our new account. Thanks again!
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