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

About

Ask a Librarian provides Florida residents with virtual reference service via live chat and text messaging from 10am to 10pm (ET) Monday through Thursday, and from 10am to 5pm (ET) Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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.