Social Networking and Libraries

Those who don’t use libraries have long seen them as repositories of dusty old books. Library staff perennially seek to change this misrepresentation, and there is no better way to do so in our digital world than through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Because social media is consumed so heavily by the younger generations, the social networking phenomenon is also helping to advertise to that demographic, and shining light on the exciting and beneficial programs and services that libraries offer.

This is not only a winning strategy for public libraries, but academic ones as well. In the article “How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Social Networking to Popularize Their Services: An Empirical Study”, the authors review existing studies on how users respond to social media efforts of academic libraries. One key takeaway is that social media marketing for libraries should have a target and purpose for each social network used. Strategies must be utilized to maximize the effect of the social media accounts and individual posts, with the idea of getting “information relevant to users in a short period of time” (Booker and Bandayopadhyay 145). Likes and followers mean more exposure, and a carefully and strategically-implemented social networking effort gets the word out to more users without bombarding them with superfluous content.

In the video “Social Media for Libraries”, the Georgia Public Library Service offers training for “Strengthening Your Social Media Presence”. While this video is targeted to public libraries and not academic as the aforementioned study, the many tips presented can be applied by any library using social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_KywVp7Cs

How are social networks being used in your library? Have you seen more value in social networks that have emerged since this video was made in 2016? Tell us in the comments!

Works Cited
Booker, Latrice, and Subir Bandyopadhyay. “How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Social Networking to Popularize Their Services: An Empirical Study.” Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, vol. 16, no. 2, May 2017, pp. 129–146. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=129365572&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

“Social Media For Libraries.” YouTube, Georgia Public Library Service, 21 Mar. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_KywVp7Cs.