Ask a Librarian banner with logo, Florida's Statewide Virtual Reference Service. Chat, Email, and Text.

About

Ask a Librarian provides Florida residents with online help through live chat and text messaging from 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday (ET), and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday (ET).

Email is available for residents of Florida 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and all email is answered by a librarian.

The service consists of three primary features:

  1. Live online chat for patrons
  2. SMS Text Messaging for Florida patrons
  3. Email , including new mail auto-notifications

Ask a Librarian began as a partnership between the College Center for Library Automation (CCLA) and the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC). Ask a Librarian was funded initially in 2002-2003 with LSTA funds as a pilot project of the Florida Electronic Library. The service was activated on July 28, 2003 and has continued to serve residents across the state of Florida. Ask a Librarian has evolved into a vital core service of many Florida libraries.

Interested in joining?

For more information or to become a participating library, please contact Kelly Doty at kelly@tblc.org.