The Hyperlinked Library gets Frozen

The first thing that came to mind when thinking about the hyperlinked library model and how people interact with the library was a recent event at the library where I volunteer. The children’s librarian put together an event where kids could come and meet volunteers dressed as Anna and Elsa from Frozen to get their autograph and a photograph with them and then watch the movie. The event was advertised on Facebook and in the library and she was expecting about fifty kids to show up and to have about half an hour for the meet and greet before the movie. I’m not sure what the final numbers of kids were but it was estimated at about two hundred and the meet and great ended up lasting about two hours. Parents had spread the word about the event on their own even calling up friends and family while in line for the event. I find it really interesting how the community further spread the information about the event through word of mouth and on social media. It was also interesting to see a bit about how people were using technology in relation to this event. I met one nice older lady who told me she had brought her IPad to get a picture of her granddaughter and most parents were taking the photos of their children with the princesses with their phones. For parents who did not have a phone that took photos or just preferred a traditional camera could have their child’s picture taken with a digital camera and have it emailed to them after the event. Lastly I also overheard many parents talking about how they found instructions for their kids’ homemade costumes online. Overall it was interesting to see how technology shaped these families interactions with the library both through the libraries efforts on Facebook and such and on their own with steps they took before coming to the library.