On Thursday April 1, 2021 I'll be inviting people to participate in this year's #library30 photo challenge
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 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 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...".
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, the community you serve and the library you love!
[Please note: I did consider altering this year's prompts to more specifically acknowledge the unique challenges created COVID-19. In the end decided to leave them as is. My reasoning being that this year's circumstances will doubtless come through loud and clear as people begin posting. Plus, I like the idea of consistent prompts being in place year after year in the event any future researchers want to do a longitudinal study of the #library30 hashtag :) Either way, I expect that this year's #library30 photo challenge will offer a snapshot of a very unique time for libraries and the people whose lives they touch].
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
