One of the benefits of IM reference is the fact that it creates a means of social interaction and community between librarys and potential customers out in the online places where our customers are working and playing.
Many of these people are teens and IM is a good way to engage them but the September 2004 Pew Internet/American Life report, How Americans Use IM [pdf], reports that 53 million adults were using IM. At the time, 24% of them were doing more IM than email. No doubt this has grown.
The real magic happens when library users add the library’s screen name to their buddy list. Then the library is a presence in their lives whenever they’re online and have their IM program running. Let me repeat that. Through IM, you can be available to your users, among their trusted peers, when they’re operating online.
Here are some good talking points for people who want to bring up the idea of doing IM.
Me: Learning Library 2.0 
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