Social Networking

Twitter Handle: @Crowl_MMJH

Dr. Perry and Dr. Lesesne

When I took my Methods block at SHSU in the fall of 2015, Dr. Perry (@kperry) and Dr. Lesesne (@professornana) both came to speak to my literary class. My professor, Dr. Brooks, mentioned at the beginning of the class that we would be required to create a Twitter account for the class in order to communicate with a school in Africa. This project never came to fruition, but I had already created the account. When Dr. Perry and Dr. Lesesne came to speak to our class, they promoted their Twitter handles. I followed both shortly afterwards, the idea of going back to school for a Masters in Library Science dancing around the back of my brain.

I always noticed Dr. Perry’s scheduled tweet “It’s (date) at (time), what are you reading?” She also promotes sketch-noting and doodling in general. I also followed her on Instagram for a while, but as much as I want to be into sketch-noting and doodling, I am not. I also follow her on GoodReads and enjoy the coincidence when we’ve read the same book.

Dr. Lesesne has been tweeting and retweeting a lot more than I initially noticed. I really noticed it during NCTE. I attempted to go to her and Dr. Perry’s session, but I was unable to make it. More and more, she’s been attending conferences and presenting on the value of literacy.

Author

Book nerd that I am, I follow many authors on Twitter. When I first opened my Twitter account in 2015, J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) and John Green (@johngreen)were the first two authors I immediately looked up to follow. Early 2017, I began following Kathleen Glasgow (@kathglasgow) after reading her book Girl in Pieces. Then I followed Jonathan Maberry(@JonathanMaberry), an author I already enjoyed after devouring his Rot & Ruin series, after reading Mars One. Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) was next after When Dimple Met Rishsi in June of 2017. Following that, in quick succession, was  Barry Lyga (@barrylyga), Jason Reynolds (@JasonReynolds83) and Matt de la Pena (@mattdelapena). I’ve always loved Jennifer Weiner (@jenniferweiner), but it wasn’t until I read/listened to her memoir Hungry Heart in March of 2018 that I started following her on Twitter. Soon after I followed Marissa Meyer (@marissa_meyer) because The Lunar Chronicles is pretty much one of my all time favorite series. In the fall of 2018 I began following Jay Coles (@mrjaycoles) and Kody Keplinger (@Kody_Keplinger), and then after reading Allegedly for this YA course, I began following Tiffany D. Jackson (@WriteinBK).

Since I follow a lot of YA authors, it feels like I follow more authors than I actually do. They often retweet or tag each other in posts. The YA author community is one of love and support for one another. Tomi Adeyemi (tomi_adeyemi) recently teased and linked the link to Essence magazine that promoted the release of the cover for Children of Virtue and Vengeance.  Multiple authors such as Melissa Albert (@mimi_albert), Sandhya Menon, and Gloria Chao (@gloriachao) replied to Tomi Adeyemi about the beauty of the cover. I read the article which described Adeyemi’s search for an African artist for the covers of Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance. It is also teased as to why one of the main character’s, Zélie, hair is not straightened in the second book.

It was thanks to Twitter that, in November of 2018, I learned that ARC’s of On the Come Up would be available during NCTE through Angie Thomas’s (@angiecthomas) Twitter.. I waited in line and got my ARC and enjoyed every minute of reading it. On November 20, 2018, Angie Thomas tweeted that she felt so nervous having her ARC out in the world. Recently she has been tweeting about the research she has been conducting on her third book and that while it is outside of her wheelhouse, she is excited to try something new. And for it to be banned.

Many authors will post inspirational writing posts, news about upcoming books or film adaptations, and events that they will be at. They also post about their personal lives, victories and losses and the like. When the film for Dumplin’ came out in December 2018 or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before earlier in the year, many authors would tweet about how they were watching the movie and tagged the author.  

I have replied on several authors Twitter feeds or retweeted multiple tweets. It’s always exciting when an author likes or replies to something from me. Randy Ribay (@randyribay) recently tweeted  (April 9, 2019) about his recent book Patron Saints of Nothing to be released in June 2019. I retweeted about how excited I was to read it and he liked it! Libba Bray tweeted about the recent release of Dig, A.S. King’s newest book. I retweeted that it was released just in time as I am currently on a binge of A.S. King thanks to this class. This led to a short conversation between myself and my old campus librarian. And A.S. King (@AS_King) liked it!

These authors share the writing process. This could be valuable to show students, and it’s a communication tool. It will help me as a librarian keep current since these authors are posting about their own upcoming books or their peers. This access to authors can show students that authors are real people and that they have the opportunity to connect with them in a small way.

Librarian

There are a couple of librarians I follow. My old campus librarian, Jimmy Mai (@The BeardedLib11), my current campus library (@MMJHLibrary), and a couple of junior high and high school librarians from other campuses in my district - Sarah Letts (@letts_reads), Karyn Lewis (@ktlewis14). I followed the librarians from my current school district around June to August of 2018. Jimmy Mai started his Twitter around September 2018 or so.

Sarah Letts and Karyn Lewis have tweeted or retweeted several interesting display ideas that I liked or retweeted myself. They also tweet out related articles to reading, book lists, and the like. Karyn Lewis retweeted an article I looked at about benefits of wordless picture books and tips on how to use them with children. Lewis also participates heavily in Librarian Twitter chats.  Jimmy Mai will often post about what he is reading, events at his school, and a couple of librarian related articles.

It’s important to follow other librarians because of the ideas they share. Multiple librarians in my district posted about having a March Madness bracket. They also share their displays, some of which are quite creative. Our district turned 100 years old this school year and our school was given the decade the 1940s. The main display was given a 1940s theme at one point in the school year. Currently, the theme is “Reading with my Peeps”. I don’t remember who it was, but someone posted a really neat display. An author had visited and taken the time to pick out a few of their favorite books. The librarian then created a display for this. I mentioned it to our librarian towards the beginning of the year, and after Jennifer A. Neilson visited, she did the same thing.

Teacher

I follow multiple teachers on Twitter, but I’m going to focus on one. Anne Grant (@AnneNant) )was one of my mentor teachers when I was student teaching. I started following her probably around August of 2018 or so. She teaches middle school ELA at a YES Prep location in Houston now.

Anne is constantly posting about books. She shared an idea recently from another school related to the 40 Book Challenge. The display is 40 book spines and as you complete a book, you update the spine with the title you read. She has been currently posting about a bookmark contest through the Brazos Bookstore. She created a DonorsChoose Project for a Read It Forward program with Refugee by Alan Gratz. She met her goal and posted pictures of the kids finding the books she hid around the school for them to find. She tends to tag me and others in Book Giveaways. It appears that she receives ARC’s to review as well because when I posted about the Randy Ribay book, she mentioned how she had an ARC of the book and would send it to me when her student was done reading it.

Sharing the love of books with another teacher is fantastic. We’re able to recommend books to each other through social media even though we don’t see each other anymore on a regular basis. We both promote the importance of diverse literature, and we keep each other informed of author visits in the Houston area. We can never seem to catch each other at these events though!

Literary Organization/Publisher

I started following Penguin Teen (@PenguinTeen) and HarperTeen (@harperteen) around February 2019. I thought I had been following Epic Reads (@EpicReads) before this time because I saw posts from them all of the time but apparently not so I made sure to follow them around this time as well. I started following the American Library Association (@ALALibrary), AASL (@aasl), VOYA Magazine (@voyamagazine), and YALSA (@yalsa) during my first semester in the Library Science program, the fall of 2018.
These organizations all promote the importance of literacy. Since this week is National Library Week, they have been posting more about the benefits of libraries and librarians. ALA will also post different resources for teachers and librarians alike. Some of these organizations have also been posting about the film The Public starring Emilio Estevez. This movie promotes the importance of libraries as well. YALSA often promotes different book lists with award-winning titles. In March I retweeted their 2019 Hub Reading Challenge for when this semester of grad school is over. The Hub Reading Challenge is for readers to read 25 of the most recent award winner and honor books. A Google Sheet is provided with the list of titles, authors, and award winners, which is helpful.  

I’ve always enjoyed following Epic Reads on Social Media. They tend to have bright advertisements for upcoming books and different interactive ways to find new titles. They will have quizzes for what title you should next or offer a title based on your astrological sign. Epic Reads supports different film adaptations of Young Adult novels as well. Recently they promoted a booklist where they exchanged image on the cover with that of a snake. And it was pretty entertaining.

Why Use Social Media?

When I was younger, it was hard to share my love of books and reading with others. Sure, I had some friends interested in the same genre as me, but none that read as much as I did. I could read anywhere, the bus, walking to class, during class, it didn’t matter. All I wanted to do was consume stories. But I could never imagine being able to contact my favorite authors. They were an enigma. They created these wonderful, imaginative worlds that I lost myself in, but I could never tell them how much their writing meant to me.

Young Adult literature has evolved since I went to middle school. I cannot get enough Young Adult books, and I love to share titles with others and connect events to books I’ve read. My colleagues don’t often share the same enthusiasm for books and reading, fellow teachers that teach the same content.

The invention of social media has allowed me to share my love of books with readers all over the world. Teachers, librarians, or just book nerds in general. By following other teachers, it’s easy to see popular trends within classrooms. Jason Reynolds is hugely popular along with Nic Stone’s Dear Martin. Librarians and teachers both share different bulletin board or display ideas that promote various book themes.

Following authors allows readers the opportunity to interact with the creators of their favorite stories. As an adult, I get excited when authors like anything I post if I tag them. It is also interesting to watch them as they delve into the writing process. Angie Thomas is constantly teasing her followers with vague posts about her upcoming book. Sandhya Menon posted about edits before her newest book There’s Something About Sweetie was released. She also posted about an additional story starring the two main characters from When Dimple Met Rishi, her debut novel.

NCTE (@ncte), Blue Willow Bookshop (@BlueWillowBooks), Teen Book Con (@TeenBookCon), and Texas Teen Book Festival (@TXTeenBookFest) along with my local library allows me to keep up with author visits and other trends. It’s thanks to Twitter that I had the opportunity to meet Patrick Ness and Julie Murphy. Book publishers also keep me up to date on upcoming releases.

I enjoy following many of these authors and publishers on Instagram as well. Author interviews and videos from events or their lives are interesting to watch.  It will be exciting to see what social media bring in the future.