i m (not)

I've put off writing about instant messaging in hopes that I might have a meebo interaction beforehand, but the time I have to complete this program is dwindling and I've received no IMs. What can you do? It's a lonely internet existence...
In terms of library service, I'm interested in what might happen if we offered IM Reference in our district. Working in Telephone Information I'm a likely candidate to staff such a service, and if nothing else, I think it might be fun. I've had a fair number of email interactions where responses come very quickly, and many of our emails pertain to easy to answer circulation questions. Whether the questions coming in on an IM service would be in the same vain or not, I don't know. But we do provide service for a large area, so anything we can do to make ourselves available to patrons is a good thing.
The obvious problem would be staff time. Calling the library with questions is often pretty instant, and has been our priority (over answering emails). If we had to contend with incoming IMs, emails, and phone calls, I can see getting overwhelmed. Perhaps if we were available for IM a couple hours an afternoon, targeting a homework help audience. But then again, offering services via phone and email may be enough. It may be that an IM service would have been more cutting edge a few years ago. And what ever happened to staff IM'ing? Seriously, are we doing that anymore?