Start the Conversation: Reaching Out to Patrons through the Social Networking Site Goodreads

The Sage Colleges Libraries is on a crusade to shatter the traditional library image of a quiet study zone by reaching out to students through social networking sites and sparking interest in reading. The Sage Libraries is promoting itself through a traditional blog, Facebook, and Twitter, but we are particularly focused on promotion through Goodreads. Goodreads (www.goodreads.com) is a social networking site for avid and casual readers alike; logically a great place for a library to have a presence. The website provides a forum for discussion and features such as bookshelves, review spaces, etc. The Goodreads mission is simply stated, “to get people excited about reading,” which is also a goal of the Sage Colleges Libraries. Our Goodreads group connects members of the Sage Community in a reader-friendly forum where a dialog between the Sage community and the library staff can develop. This dialog is facilitated through book discussions, recommendations, suggestions, and polls. The Sage Libraries also promotes new books in the collection and its’ newly created collection of popular fiction in the bookshelf feature. Library staff initiated our original topics, and as students and faculty joined the group, and the discussion grew. The Libraries is promoting the group/website through the library website as well as in-house in the form of posters and workstation wallpaper