In the early weeks of the pandemic, the Special Collections Division of the Free Library of Philadelphia fhttps://freelibrarv.org/) responded to the library^ call for fun and interactive online engagement Initially staff members released games and Buzzfeed-inspired lists via various social media accounts to amuse patrons, distract from the lockdown, and provide educational programming. As the list of activities grew, we realized this content needed a more substantial home; the return on investment of time for the development and production of an online game to be released once on social media was not sufficient. Activities and passive programming that took hours to create could easily fall victim to social media’s algorithms and be quickly buried in a patron's feed. The Free Library's official blog was an insufficient option because it promoted all library programming, and our goal was to highlight the value of our division and the materials housed within it. We resolved these issues by creating an online repository solely with freeware systems (https://bit.ly/FunWithFLPSpecCoin. The repository provides a stable landing page wherein the Special Collections Division content builds meaningful connections with patrons of all ages. This model can be readily adapted and is a valuable tool for library workers promoting their own online engagement.
展开▼
