I started a TikTok for my library in an attempt to attract teens to use the library more. Our library sees the majority of our usage from older adults and families with young kids, of course missing that key teenager demographic even though we have a large collection of YA fiction. I needed to find a way to make the library seem fun to them in hopes they might be curious to check it out.
This is where TikTok comes into the mix. At the time, I wasn’t very familiar with it but I had caught a glimpse of the app through people sharing videos on other social media apps. Short, silly videos sounded like something that I could use to catch the eyes of teens and present the library in a new light. With this half baked idea, I launched our TikTok account.
I had no idea what I was doing, the unique things some of the creators can do on there still blow my mind but I started simple trying to incorporate the library in funny ways. Surprisingly, as it’s gone on we’ve gotten more creative and a little sillier and while we haven’t gone viral yet I think it’s only a matter of time.
If you have any ideas for our TikTok account that are library-related I’d love to hear it or if you can teach me how to use all the fun features on the app I’d love to hear from you too. In the meantime, enjoy one of my favorite TikToks, we even made a real-life volcano!
an adventure of sorts 