Eloquence. Empathy. Comprehension. These are but some of the basic interpersonal skills that are absolutely necessary, when it comes to being a librarian - being able to relate to, understand, and communicate with members of the library community.
We are often excellent at this face-to-face and over the phone. We use these skills to foster appreciation of our services amongst our clients.
So, how do we fare, when it comes to online interaction?
Over the past few years, there has been a huge focus on libraries and social media. Well, the technology, at least. Many librarians have been put through training programs, learning how to set up accounts in MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter... learning how to set up blogs, and read feeds... learning how to edit wikis and use social bookmarks.
But I often observe the deluded assumption of "If we build it, they will come".
And then, when the library blog sits deserted, or when the facebook/myspace page doesn't get any friends, the nay-sayers step in, shunning social media as a fad that has no relevance to libraries.
So, here's one thing I'd like to see. If we're so focused on libraries using social media, then we need to train our librarians up on actual social networking skills for online communication.
1. Get your librarian to find an online community, and infiltrate it. It might be a literary fansite, such as Obernewtyn.net, or one of the many Harry Potter or Twilight fan forums. It might be a political site, such as Crikey, or a knitting Ning, or a local band's myspace, or a meebo chatroom. The more relevant to your geographic location, the better (ie. Australian politics, if you're looking at a political community.)
2. Get them to become a "regular" in that community. That means sharing information about yourself, and getting to know the other regulars.
3. Engage with others in the community. Get fired up, and participate in arguments. Share awesome experiences. Link them to other cool stuff online.
4. Become the "resident librarian". Whenever you're sharing your passion for whatever the focus of the online community is, mention those resources that your library has, that they'd be interested. This is the point when you can really utilise library content on Flickr and Youtube, because you actually have an online community that you can share with.
Remember - it's not all about you, and it's not all about the library. It's about community, conversations, and collaboration. You can't build an online community from scratch based around a library website. That's crazy.
But what you *can* do is place the librarian (ie. you) and, consequently, libraries within existing online communities. There are a hell of a lot of them out there, and many of them are absolutely abuzz with activity.
And if you've got passion to share, then they will welcome you, and your library, with open arms.
