Proposal

West Deptford Free Public LibraryReading Rocks Book Club 1.      Blogging technology is available to anyone using a computer with Internet connection. This technology is available at our library as well as the neighboring school and many of our residents.2.      The Teen Blogging Book Club would give teens the opportunity to read book reviews posted by the young adult librarian as well as peers. It would also give the teens the opportunity to post their own reflections about the books that they are reading.3.      Our library currently has a Pizza and a Paperback book club that meets monthly at the library. The teens meet and talk about what they are reading and feast on pizza. This program has been very successful with up to ten students attending at any given night. Our Young Adult Blogging Book Club would extend this book club and give the students who are unable to come to the library the opportunity to discuss their favorite books through the interaction of the computer.4.      There are many reasons that libraries need to use the current technologies to deliver better and timely services to our customers. Below are several web sites that show that customer service is the most important reason to use social networking software to improve customer service.            http://plablog.org/2007/03/you-dont-want-to-join-you-want-to-        belong.html            This blog is from the Public Library Association. It is comment from        their latest conference. The speaker is Karen Hymen and her major           push is that we need to be service oriented for our customers. We are     competing with Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, and home computers. We     need to give our customers services that they can not get at these other   organizations. Our Blogging Book Club would supply just one of         those services. It would be a reading discussion online where the teens   are anyway. It will deliver services and promote literacy outside of the          library walls.http://www.sjcpl.org/gameblog/index.php      St. Joseph’s County Public Library GameBlog is a wonderful way to      for their teen customers to know what is happening at the library. The     teens are online anyway. The library needs to make their presence          online so this group of customers know we are there for them. http://blogs.westdeptford.lib.nj.us/reader_reviews/This web site is our for the reading group Tuesday Tea With a Twist. A group of adults meet each month and then post their reviews on this blog. It has been very successful with the adults. I would like to try it with the teens.http://sjrlc.typepad.com/about.htmlThis blog is from the South Jersey Regional Cooperative. This is used to keep libraries in the region up to date as to what is 5.      There are several roadblocks to consider when implementing this program. For instance:Time for a staff member to oversee the blog and to edit whenever necessary if inappropriate postings are made.Time for a staff member to comment on the blogs posted by the teens so that they receive feedback from their postings,Time for the young adult library to read or browse the books that are mentioned on the blog so she is knowledgeable of the books that are being read.6.      Our library can overcome the issue the editing and upkeep of the blog by the young adult librarian and teen volunteers taking the responsibility for this service.7.      I would suggest the Wordpress would be used for this project because it is one of the most popular software options for blogging. It is easy to use and the teens would like the interface.8.      Ongoing and supportive professional development will be supplied by the young adult librarian to assist any staff member or customer who would like to learn how to use this software for the blogging project or to create their own blog.