Search LISTA or your favorite academic database for Facebook and you will find an abundance of articles discussing how to reach out to your patrons by creating a Facebook page.

David Lee King’s post, Humanizing your Facebook Pages, offers the best advice on how to attract and keep your patrons involved by creating a page that is fun, engaging and more importantly useful.

However that still leaves the fundamental question: why do patrons fan library Facebook pages?

Two studies examines “why consumers fan businesses on Facebook” and “how marketers are keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media.”

Though these studies pertain to businesses libraries can learn from their findings.

As David Lee King points out there must be something there to engage patrons. Does this mean replacing your library’s website with a Facebook page? No. But it does mean bringing some of your services to Facebook using marketing styles that Facebook users are accustomed to (i.e., fun).

Promoting your library on Facebook requires an understanding of what users on Facebook expect. Most patrons, especially students, may not even consider becoming a fan of their library even though they are fans of their favorite products or companies, Monster, the Gap, etc.

Therein lies the challenge.