The goal of the Washington State Library’s Book Blog is to investigate the use of blogs as communication tools in libraries. Blogs and similar collaboration technologies have the potential to foster better communication among librarians, between librarians and patrons, and among patrons themselves. This project allows us to explore the possible uses of blogging software. We hope to pass this information along to other librarians whenever possible.
The State Library will host a blog for middle school students to communicate with each other about what they’re reading. Students will be able to submit reviews of their favorite books and comment on the reviews of others. Middle school students will fill out a short registration form before they’re allowed to comment. Students’ submissions to the blog will appear after being reviewed by a moderator.

To address teachers’ and parents’ concerns about safety on the Internet, student contributions will be reviewed to make sure they don’t include personal information or comments that might be offensive. Also, the blog will include links to information about cybersafety and Internet etiquette. As part of the registration process students will have to indicate that they’ve read and agreed to an acceptable use policy.