Question of the week: What kinds of social media apps do you think you might use in your library? If you use some already, what ideas did you get for making better use of them?
Our library currently uses Facebook, Pinterest, and GoodReads. We do not have accounts with Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LibraryThing.
We use Facebook to post flyers and information about upcoming events, post pictures of past events, and post book covers of new arrivals. We also try to promote other events/closures that are going on around town by sharing posts from the Chamber and other local groups. I do not currently post questions on Facebook to promote interaction. I have thought about doing that, but have noticed that often no one responds to questions posted on the Facebook pages of other libraries. I think it would be a lot of fun if you could get responses, but if you can't, it just seems lame.
We primarily use Pinterest to get craft ideas for Story-time and ideas for the Summer Reading Program. When I find cute craft ideas, I save them on our Story-time Crafts Board. Then, even if I don't use them right away, I can go back and easily find them later. I also post pictures of book covers that link to book reviews or summaries on a board called "Book
Reviews/Summaries." We have a Silhouette Cameo machine (kind of like a Cri-Cut) that we use to cut out designs for decorating bulletin boards or to cut out shapes to help with Story-time crafts. So, I have a Board for Silhouette ideas and follow some "pinners" who post tips and designs for the Silhouette. After taking the class, I was exposed to various boards/pins about libraries. I started a board called "Library Stuff" and have started following some other library-themed boards. I'm hoping to get a lot of good ideas from the boards I am now following. Pinterest is definitely a social media venue that I am glad I participate in. It is one that actually saves me time in the long run because I can get so many good ideas from one site, rather than visiting lots of web pages.
I have a Goodreads account under my own name, but I don't have one for the library. I use my account to look at book reviews to determine which books I should purchase, and I use it to help recommend books to patrons. Another of my primary uses for Goodreads is to get the book cover art to post new arrivals on our Facebook page. I have no plans to start using LibraryThing. I have set up a personal Shelfari account, but have not started using it. I think Shelfari has a cooler look than Goodreads, but I just don't know if it's worth the time of starting all over and adding all of the books I've read and want to read. It would just seem redundant. I am going to look into it a little more and see if I can figure out the widget to help post new arrivals to our website.
We do not have a YouTube account and do not plan to have one. However, we do use instructional YouTube videos to help us learn how to do things. We do not have an Instagram account or a Twitter account and have no plans to pursue those. Twitter and Instagram seem to be geared toward users that need to post comments/pictures often and instantly. We are a library in a small town. Things are not happening fast enough here that a Facebook account does not suffice for our purposes. I don't actually think many folks in our town use Twitter. I have never heard any of our patrons mention using it, and the two teenagers at my house don't use it. The young folks here do use Instagram. However, I think they use it less often now. They mostly SnapChat with each other.
When you have limited time to devote to social media, you have to choose where you get the most bang for the buck. Pinterest and Goodreads are definitely useful library tools and a worthwhile use of my time. Facebook may not actually reach a lot of folks for the amount of time put into it. However, it is an easier avenue to update than our webpage is and it does allow users the opportunity to post comments and questions. I plan to continue to use Facebook to promote our library and I hope to do more non-library posts such as sharing links from other community pages.
Thanks for the class. I look forward to our next opportunity to learn together.
Happy New Year!
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