[Web4lib] Successful book discussion blogs, anyone?

[Casey Bisson]

I can offer two examples, though neither is specifically a book  
discussion site.

Tamworth Public Library, serving a community of about 2500 people in  
central New Hampshire, gets a lot of activity on their website,  
including comments.

Here's a good example:
http://tamworthlibrary.org/read/60505#comment-52

A list of recent comments appears on the front page of their site:
http://tamworthlibrary.org/


Also worth noting is Beyond Brown Paper, an online photo archive from  
a mill town in northern New Hampshire.

http://beyondbrownpaper.plymouth.edu/browse/

The site boasts a few hundred comments on the collection of more than  
6000 online photos (scanning is ongoing). My favorite batch of  
comments appears on this photo:

http://beyondbrownpaper.plymouth.edu/item/673


Both sites were launched this past December/January and serve  
communities where the demographics defy our expectations of computer  
use, yet each has gained considerable interest and use from its  
target audience.



Casey Bisson
__________________________________________

Information Architect
Plymouth State University
Plymouth, New Hampshire
http://oz.plymouth.edu/~cbisson/
ph: 603-535-2256

On 7/12/07, Jami Haskell <jamihaskell at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Great question, Alicia! I would be interested in these responses as  
> well.
> We
> are hoping to implement blogs for book discussions in the very near
> future!
> Best,
> Jami Haskell
>
>
> On 7/12/07, Abramson, Alicia <AAbramson at ci.berkeley.ca.us> wrote:
> >
> > Does anyone have an example of a library-based book discussion  
> blog that
> > you would identify as successful?  We are doing our second  
> attempt at
> > one here at the Berkeley Public Library for our "Reading in Common"
> > (i.e. citywide book reading) event:
> > http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/readingincommon/
> >
> >
> > Last year's blog had a total of 8 comments over a 4 month  
> period...and I
> > would like to see a more engaged discussion this year.
> >
> >
> > I would like to learn more about what the ingredients are of a
> > successful online book discussion, and how have others managed to
> > successfully engage their communities in the usage of blogs for book
> > discussions.
> >
> >
> > Alicia