Don’t you hate the feeling of knowing that you really need something new on your Library News blog, but you don’t know anything new to write about? Here are some ideas for finding news when you think it’s all the same old stuff.

1. Open your eyes and ears to what’s happening in your library. Once I saw a new flyer on the front door as I was leaving for lunch, and then did a story about the classes that were mentioned. If the Circulation desk has a sign up about something, it may be a good story—I did one on our last blood drive for the Red Cross. Encourage staff to contribute news and stories about things they are doing, new databases, book reviews, etc.  Some weeks I’ve had enough staff contributions that I haven’t had to do anything, and the diversity of topics is wonderful.

2. Open your eyes and ears to what’s happening in your community. I watch the news page that the university has, and have grabbed things about faculty with new books (and mention their old books that are available at the library), information about visiting authors (when Peter Matthiassen came here we had so many of his books that I even did a display of them), and other items of interest that have a library “spin”. I do the same with the local newspaper and community events that are of interest to the library community.

3. Watch what other libraries are doing. My two previous posts give you suggestions on finding the blogs other libraries are doing. Some of the basic and creative ideas I’ve seen include: introducing new staff members, listing web sites for finding road information in winter (especially helpful for schools with commuters), pointing out citation format web sites at final paper time, posting a notice when student assistants are needed, and detailing how to get RSS Feed of your library blog, so people can keep up with all the news you’re sharing..