#library30

On Monday Apri1, 2019 I'll be in inviting people to participate in the #library30 photo challenge

What is it?

Even though I work in a library, it's not uncommon for me (and other in the field) to look to other cultural institutions for new ideas and new perspectives. That's how #library30 happened. My wife (who works directly with museum professionals), alerted me to the #museum30 initiative that had been launched by Magnifying Zoology in 2017.

The premise was pretty simple. Participants worked from a set of daily prompts and posted pictures that related to the prompt along with the #museum30 hashtag. As I followed that hashtag and saw the amazing stories that were being shared, I thought, "Libraries should do that...".

How does it work?

All you have to do is upload a photo related to the daily prompt on Twitter or Instagram and include the hashtag #library30. This will allow others to easily find your post as well as those of other participants. It helps too if you also include the day of the challenge, the prompt, and even short description of why you chose that photo. A typical post might look like this:

As for the content, you're free (and encouraged) to interpret the prompts any way you like. Think of this as a chance for you to show your creativity and explore how the prompts relate to you and the library you love!

When is it?

April is a special month for libraries. We celebrate National Library Week in April. We honor school libraries and librarians in April. April is National Poetry month. It also helps that there are 30 days in April! So, you guessed it, this year's #library30 photo challenge will run April 1 through April 30.

Who can participate?

Anyone who works in, volunteers for, uses, loves, supports, or otherwise finds a connection with libraries! Pretty much all of us.

Why do this?

My hope is that by participating in #library30 we'll be able to share our stories and the stories of those libraries that mean so much to us. Similarly, I believe that #library30 will offer many opportunities to connect with one another, learn from one another and inspire one another. That can only serve to make libraries even better.

To keep up with my progress on the #library30 challenge, you can follow me Twitter at @jeffrey_r and on Instagram at @jregensb

Comments

On Wednesday April 1, 2026 I'll be rebooting the #library30 photo challenge and inviting people to participate in this year's event. What is it? Even though I work in a library, it's not uncommon for me (and others in the field) to look to related cultural institutions for new ideas and new perspectives. That's how #library30 happened. My wife (who worked directly with museum professionals at the time), alerted me to the #museum30 initiative that had been launched by Magnifying Zoology in 2017. The premise was pretty simple. Participants worked from a set of daily prompts and posted pictures on social media related to the prompt along with the #museum30 hashtag. As I followed that hashtag and saw the amazing stories that were being shared, I thought, "Libraries should do that...". And #library30 was born. A plain text list of these prompts are provided at the end of this blog post. How does it work? All you have to do is upload a photo related to the dail...

The Ohio Historical Center: A Defense

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Carrie Ghose at Business First to share my thoughts on architecture in central Ohio. The recent controversy surrounding the new Student Union at Ohio State had apparently sparked a number of conversations regarding what constitutes "good" building design. Carrie was following that story , and developing a second piece to get feedback on other notable Columbus buildings. At the time I offered a staunch a defense of what I believe might be the most maligned and misunderstood building in central Ohio, the Ohio Historical Center. Business First wasn't able to run the whole piece, so I've decided to turn it into a blog post. photo courtesy of OHS/ www.ohiomemory.org The refrain is a as old as the building itself, "It's ugly. It's just a giant brown box. It doesn't even look like a museum". Sadly, it's that exact line of thinking that poses the greatest threat to the building Architectural Record referre...

Renovation Vacation

Back in August my wife and I decided to each take a week off from our respective works and embark on a "Renovation Vacation" at the Akron almost-mansion. The impetus behind the trip was two-fold. One consideration was our realization that it's really hard to make any kind of concerted progress when you live two hours from a job site. By the time we get everything packed for a typical trip, drive to the house, get our work area organized and start working, it's just about time to head back home. The other consideration was that with all the delays we've seen with this house, we thought it would be good for morale if we could make even some small progress on our own. The plan then was to spend a week "camping out" at the house and doing light projects and cleaning while we were there. I say camping out since it's kind of what it was like. Yes, the house has electric and 70% plumbing (including two functional toilets), but there's no heat, no kitche...

On Summit

Search This Blog

#library30 - A 30 Day Photo Challenge

Comments