Unintentionally, their profile has been raised among Oamaru's older population and technology has actually driven in-person visits to the Oamaru Public Library.
Waitaki District Libraries manager Philip Van Zijl said attendance at library events had increased, and the only difference in their promotion had been the development of the libraries' social media presence.
''The interesting thing about social media, mostly Facebook, but also Twitter, if you look at the attendance of our events ... suddenly there's been an increase, even in winter,'' he said.
But it was not the younger generation who were coming through the doors in larger numbers to events - it was the older readers.
''You'd think 'social media - youngsters', but it's obviously capturing a different population demographic, too,'' he said.
This week, library assistant Julia de Ruiter launched a ''Selfies in the Library'' competition, which prompted a flood of entries from young and old on the Waitaki District Libraries' Facebook page.
The real goal of the contest was to promote the district's libraries and their contents as useful and relevant for people of all ages.
''It's just a light-hearted way to get people involved in the library,'' Miss de Ruiter said.
Miss de Ruiter has played a significant role in the development of the libraries' social media presence, as she networks with other local businesses and community groups, as well as engaging with readers and promoting library facilities - nurturing and spreading information and entertainment.
Offering free internet access had made the Oamaru Public Library a community space, not just somewhere to read.
''I've definitely seen a larger amount of teens using it to sit and read, or use their tablets with Wi-Fi or just hang out with their friends, and I love seeing that,'' Miss de Ruiter said.
Despite the amount of information available on the internet, the library's reference section had not succumbed to new technology, Mr van Zijl said.
''Students come to the library, they've done Google and Google hasn't helped them,'' he said.
''We call it the long-tail, the deep web that they don't know how to find information - and that's where the qualified staff are here to help.''
Overall, fewer people were coming through library doors, but Mr van Zijl said it was important for libraries to count social media engagement statistics.
''We're keeping statistics from our social media because I see that as another branch ... that's just as important as people coming through the door,'' he said.
Mr van Zijl said the district libraries would continue to adapt to the environment and try to give people what they needed.
