“Our job is to select, collect, describe, make preserved knowledge accessible and circulating,” added Drabinski. “That’s the whole project. So when technology changes the way things are circulated, so do we.”
Librarians can also use TikTok to spread trustworthy information on a platform rife with manipulated content. “It’s a space that requires critical information literacy,” said Jessie Loyer, an academic librarian in Calgary, Alberta who posts on topics including digital sovereignty and repatriation on TikTok. . @IndigenousLibrarian.
Loyer adds: “Librarians have always been involved in helping people figure out what’s real, what’s relevant. So, she said, TikTok is “a necessary space to engage and a useful tool”.
Not everyone agrees with the idea of librarians posting on TikTok. Vickers said some directors and library boards found some TikTok accounts unprofessional. And some librarians are conflicted about encouraging young people to use the platform. Elizabeth Miller, 22, a youth services librarian at the Rehoboth Beach Public Library in Rehoboth Beach, Del., said that while TikTok has the potential to help people make friends and discover interests, the app does not. is not always a healthy environment for young people.
But others, including librarians at the Kankakee Public Library, find that TikTok also allows them to interact directly with the community. Libraries often collaborate with local figures, including the mayor. “He was always excited to do it,” said Greer, who helped make the videos. The library plans to create a TikTok with cheerleaders and drama club at the local high school next year.
Mary Bass, 30, assistant supervisor of youth services and leadership at the Kankakee library, said: “We may not be able to give them readers this year or next. “But they’ll know we’re here when they grow up.”
