What makes a successful library blog?

I’m not a huge reader of blogs, so when faced with this assignment I started with a skeptical eye. In the past any library blog I had looked at appeared only to be populated by librarians and only read by other librarians. I had not come across any that I felt were relevant to the patrons. I was happily surprised by some of the library blogs I reviewed. A blog can be several different things, “is a personal Web diary, a collection of short, dated discussions with commentary, or a way of publishing news and information” (Kyrnin). To me the combination of the later two would make the most successful library blog. A forum for both dialog and relevant information is key.
Library blogs need to be updated frequently at least weekly, yet must also be updated with relevant material, not just update for updating sake. A successful blog incites intelligent communication. The readership has to be engaged by what they read weekly. Ohio University’s business librarian does a good job keeping his blog information concise and includes short informative videos that appear to be focused to specific class topics, which make it accessible to students even when the business librarian isn’t present.
One thing that is critical is avoiding slang, acronyms and library ‘jargon.’ Librarians have a lot of jargon and I’ve seen interactions between a librarian and a student were the student walked away more confused, not less. Students/patrons don’t know what an OPAC is or where to pick up their ILL. Library blogs need to speak plainly and on a level the overall readership can understand. Basic grammar and sentence structure should also be followed. Especially with teen library blogs I’ve seen the librarian resort to slang to try to be on the level of the teen, but generally they just end up sounding silly and teens see right through them.
Ann Arbor Library has a great blog with various subtopics that appeal to a wide array of library patrons – which is needed in a public library setting. I clicked on the Events blog first and was happy to see current information of interesting events. It made me want to visit Ann Arbor’s library! Other subtopics included Fiction, Teens, Kids, Humor, etc. The more I clicked the more subtopics appeared and while some of them overlapped there was new information on each page.
Library blogs should shine a positive light on the library and feature items the patrons may not have known about otherwise. I did not care for Virginia Commonwealth University Library Suggestion Blog. Often ‘suggestion’ boxes/blogs only house complaints and I think this could give a negative perception to the library. Yes, it is good to know what problems need to be addressed, but having that be the only format their blog takes doesn’t seem functional or useful to me. No one cares if the bathrooms were extra dirty one afternoon or how the library then addressed that problem. The library blog should be a dialog not a one-sided rant.
I think it is important to have a variety of contributors to a library blog, but to have a consistent format. Getting different librarians to maintain different sections as well as having patron input makes the blog more dynamic and interesting to read.

Jennifer Kyrnin. About.com http://webdesign.about.com/cs/weblogs/a/aa063003a.htm
Ann Arbor Library blog- http://www.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/185
Jesse Somer "Writing Good Blogs" http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/writing_good_blogs.shtml
Virginia Commonwealth University library blog - http://blog.vcu.edu/libsuggest/