BPLs Virtual Presence

When I was working on my presentation for the WAPL Conference on April 29th, I was surprised by how the BPL's virtual presence has been actively growing as of late. Check out what we have to offer our patrons online:

• Here is the link to the RA homepage. 
• Of course, there is the fabulous Browser's Corner
• Here is the link to the BPL Shelfari Groups
• Here is our Facebook page.
• Follow us on Twitter 

This doesn't even include all of the services card holders can access from the catalog or the offerings from all of the other BPL departments.

I think this list is a nice sampling of how you can serve your patrons from locations other than the physical library building. While it is important to give your virtual patrons as much attention as those who walk through your doors, it is also easy to get in over your head.

However, before you go crazy creating new web sites, signing up for more social media, or setting up Twitter accounts for the library, make sure you can staff and support these pages. An active and frequently updated virtual presence is helpful to you and your patrons, but an unsupported, empty shell of a presence, only makes you look bad.