#FirstPageFriday

I have a new promotion called First Page Friday.  Last summer at a library training, I came across a librarian who promoted First Page Friday in her library by using audio books.  She would play the first page of a book, like a digital book talk.  It left the students wanting more which led to her audio-collection statistics rising.  After hearing that story, I decided to do some research (on Twitter) to see all the different takes on First Page Friday.  There are a LOT of unique ways people use this hashtag.  Some record themselves or another person reading the first page of a book; some use the audio book, and others just use the hashtag as another avenue for a book talk.  I even saw one publisher that took a picture of the first page of the book and posted it.  Other libraries are doing the same. Clever!

As with most book talks, the problem then becomes having multiple books for the students to check out.  All students want the book you have spotlighted.  As with most libraries, I have one (maybe 2) copies of a book.  So I decided to use our subscription to Open eBooks.  It is a free service for all Title I schools, and it is a huge collection of current fiction and nonfiction eBooks.  All books have unlimited check outs so more than one student can read the eBook simultaneously.  This is a win-win.  I can promote the Open eBook app while not having to worry about how many copies of a book are available after promoting it.

(Here is some Open eBook information in case you want to learn more about that, and whether or not your school qualifies for this free service.)

My version of First Page Friday is not a video or even a snapshot of the first page. Mine is a PowerPoint that I then saved as a JPEG.  I display the cover and the first paragraph of the book.

Here is the first one I did . . .

Using the hashtag #firstpagefriday, I launch a new book on the library's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram each Friday.  Since I am in charge of the school's TV monitors, I also make sure the books end up on that rotation as well.  It's kind of handy being in charge of so many media outlets.

Here is a Sneak Peek for this week's  #firstpagefriday . . .

Each month I change out the background color, but the rest of the formatting stays the same.  It is pretty simplistic.  Due to #firstpagefriday, I have had a few more requests for accounts to Open eBook.  So maybe it is working.  Yay!