Boston Public Library marks 25th year of 'Library Card Sign-Up Month' with social media photo contest

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

For the 25th annual celebration of “Library Card Sign-up Month,” the Boston Public Library hopes to capitalize on the idea that a picture can be worth a thousand words, and that in this day and age, the picture can go viral.

Through September, the country’s first publicly-supported municipal library is running a social media campaign that encourages current library card holders to photograph their Boston Public Library card “in action” and to then share that photo via Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #BPLgetcarded.

Pictures shared with that hashtag will be uploaded to an online gallery on the library system’s Facebook page, where users can vote with their virtual thumbs.

The photo that receives the most “Likes” on Facebook at the end of September will be featured as one of the cover photos on the Boston Public Library Facebook page during October.

“We are having a little fun this month and we hope library users will, too,” library spokeswoman Gina Perille said in a statement. “We are inviting our users to show off their library cards and invite their friends to ‘get carded’ this month.”

“For those who are not picture-takers, we are also collecting individual stories about what a library card makes possible via our website at www.bpl.org/stories,” she added.

Observed since 1987, “Library Card Sign-up Month” is a time when the American Library Association and libraries across the country aim to remind people about the value of owning a library card.

The Boston Public Library serves all state residents as Library for the Commonwealth.

Anyone who lives, works or goes to school in Massachusetts, can obtain a Boston Public Library card. To learn more about signing up for one, visit www.bpl.org/general/circulation/borrowers.htm or visit at any Boston Public Library location with photo identification and proof of current residence.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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