“Libraries take to TikTok to build community and new cultural relevance” auf mashable.com (via Stephen’s Lighthouse):
“Across most media portrayals, libraries are sternly quiet places for scholars and school children to be shushed by matronly docents. In popular conception, many of them are seen as more aesthetics than service, like the historic tourist site that is the central library branch in New York City. (Those lions make the perfect photo backdrop.)
But on TikTok, libraries are your friends, brought to life by fellow meme-driven creators with real human faces and voices propelling their community hubs to new levels of utility and cultural influence.
In some ways, the digital presence of these public education organizations on the platform can feel like a tonal disruption of your typical FYP scrolling — comment sections are full of comedic shock upon finding your local library posting memes only you should know (usually through proliferation driven by fame-chasers). But they also somehow fit right in, embracing TikTok’s specific posting culture with silly and informative content.”