On Ask a Librarian Day this past Tuesday, Ask a Librarian answered 283 chats, 72 emails, and 36 text messages, an increase from the Tuesday before which had 253 chats, 60 emails, and 20 text messages.   Librarians from across the state worked to spread the message of Ask a Librarian to their coworkers and their users: AaL intern Kira’s Xtranormal video, Mike of Jacksonville Public Library’s plasma screen display, and Lynn of Keiser University in Jacksonville’s library blog post.  Also posting were the Smathers library at the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida. Jeanne and Fawn at the West Palm Beach Public Library shared several awesome direct-to-patron tweets, and Florida Keys Community College staff surely turned heads with their “Don’t Ask Watson… Ask a Librarian” display!

Check out photos from both this year and last year at Ask a Librarian’s Flickr page here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/askalibrarian I am currently gathering stories and pictures from Ask a Librarian Day, so please be sure to email them to me as soon as possible so that we can add them to the collection.  Details of what you did in your own library system will, when combined with your statewide peers, help to create an idea pool from which we can all learn & grow and to which we can all contribute.  We’ll gather and distribute news and details from our AaL Ambassador challenge participants, and keep adding photos and screenshots. Please keep up the good work by continuing to share these important talking points: •         If you ever need help when you’re not in our library, visit www.askalibrarian.org (or find the link on our library’s website). •         Ask a Librarian is a website where you can go to get your questions answered by a real librarian. •         Ask a Librarian is open for live chat and texting until midnight ET Sunday through Thursday, and until 5 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday. •         You can use Ask a Librarian for free. •         If Ask a Librarian isn’t open for chat or texting, you can always email your question, and your library’s staff will get back to you within 24 hours.