Think you control the conversation about your library? Think again. In this era of rapid growth in social media, Facebook, Twitter, and the like "flip the model of branding on its head, inviting the consumer in to create the brand," said Alison Circle, marketing head of Columbus Metropolitan Library and LJ'sBubble Room blogger, as part of a panel on social media presented by LJ at Day of Dialog, May 23. That might sound like lack of control, and it is-it is also, agreed the panelists, just one by-product of engaging in social media, which can foster deeper conversations with users in those forums, enriching the library's value in their lives, generating lively book talk, and connecting users to one another.
Facebook is a friend to the Readers' Advisory (RA) staff at Multnomah County Public Library (MCPL), in Portland, OR. It's also a space for "social mingling for introverts," noted MCPL's Alison Kastner, including any shy librarians needing to come up with a title recommendation. "[You] can panic quietly to yourself, take a breath, and jump back in," she said.
It's about engagement
This observation is just one from her experience deploying RA via the library's Facebook page (see "Facebook RA," LJ5/1/2011). In the day-long Multnomah experiment, as well as a longer one run by Kaite Stover at Kansas City Public Library, MO, teams of librarians offered reading recommendations in response to posts from users. One interesting lesson: those users also pitched in on the heavy lifting, posting their own suggestions and opinions for one another and expanding the book talk along the way.
The key to making a lively home for libraries on the social web, the panelists agreed, is supporting engagement. Just throwing tweets out willy nilly or randomly posting to Facebook and then dropping away is unlikely to result in a robust community in either forum. Engagement can only happen in response to meaningful posts.
"The value we have to offer is content," said Stover, whose library also does a consistent book chat via Twitter and tweets a book a day. "The more we post, the more engagement we get."
To create content with legs, Circle emphasized telling the rich stories of the library, and how they touch the community. Stover suggested staying in tune with the news or pop culture-her library varied the "what are you reading?" query a week ago to "what are you reading before you get raptured?" She also told listeners to tap what users are excited about by retweeting or sharing on Facebook.
Author and editor Jeff Rivera, founder of the publishing blog community Gatekeepers Post, reinforced that connecting is about being real. "People need to see you as a human being first," he said. "Then you impart information."
Other tips include buying Facebook ads to promote the library in that space. Circle said that relatively cheap initiative by CML resulted in a hike from 3000 fans to over 20,000 in short order. CML also installed a widget for the catalog right on the library's Facebook page, shortening the path for users. Kastner noted that weird things get retweeted, like a strange book cover of the week.
Of course, social media extends well beyond Facebook and Twitter. Circle said CML is utilizing iGoogle to let users customize the website's homepage, and that video via YouTube is a great tool for telling the deeper stories that can't fit in a tweet. Kastner noted that Multnomah is starting to experiment with using QR codes to drive users to resources the library has developed.
Looking toward the future
Things libraries need: a plan, a social media policy, and insight into how it fits into workflow. Without a plan, noted Circle, you are basically just "flailing around." Without a social media policy, several panelists said, you are leaving your staff without guidance to the fine lines between what is too personal and the professional. And, obviously, none of this happens without staff involved. Part of the plan, panelists noted, is training to help staff engage and fitting the work into the many changing roles in libraries today.
Other uses of social media called as well. Heather McCormack, editor of the LJ Book Review, urged the audience to use social media to involve readers in the advocacy work that needs to happen to get a workable ebook model for libraries. Stover urged publishers to use social media to bring authors to libraries and keep librarians up to date on where authors are. Librarians are more likely to be involved in content creation and production, as well as deeper curation of existing content.
Perhaps most significantly, however, the panel agreed, the definition of a gatekeeper is going to change, altering where librarians fit into the cultural landscape-an uncharted but immense opportunity.
Facebook is a friend to the Readers' Advisory (RA) staff at Multnomah County Public Library (MCPL), in Portland, OR. It's also a space for "social mingling for introverts," noted MCPL's Alison Kastner, including any shy librarians needing to come up with a title recommendation. "[You] can panic quietly to yourself, take a breath, and jump back in," she said.
It's about engagement
This observation is just one from her experience deploying RA via the library's Facebook page (see "Facebook RA," LJ5/1/2011). In the day-long Multnomah experiment, as well as a longer one run by Kaite Stover at Kansas City Public Library, MO, teams of librarians offered reading recommendations in response to posts from users. One interesting lesson: those users also pitched in on the heavy lifting, posting their own suggestions and opinions for one another and expanding the book talk along the way.
The key to making a lively home for libraries on the social web, the panelists agreed, is supporting engagement. Just throwing tweets out willy nilly or randomly posting to Facebook and then dropping away is unlikely to result in a robust community in either forum. Engagement can only happen in response to meaningful posts.
"The value we have to offer is content," said Stover, whose library also does a consistent book chat via Twitter and tweets a book a day. "The more we post, the more engagement we get."
To create content with legs, Circle emphasized telling the rich stories of the library, and how they touch the community. Stover suggested staying in tune with the news or pop culture-her library varied the "what are you reading?" query a week ago to "what are you reading before you get raptured?" She also told listeners to tap what users are excited about by retweeting or sharing on Facebook.
Author and editor Jeff Rivera, founder of the publishing blog community Gatekeepers Post, reinforced that connecting is about being real. "People need to see you as a human being first," he said. "Then you impart information."
Other tips include buying Facebook ads to promote the library in that space. Circle said that relatively cheap initiative by CML resulted in a hike from 3000 fans to over 20,000 in short order. CML also installed a widget for the catalog right on the library's Facebook page, shortening the path for users. Kastner noted that weird things get retweeted, like a strange book cover of the week.
Of course, social media extends well beyond Facebook and Twitter. Circle said CML is utilizing iGoogle to let users customize the website's homepage, and that video via YouTube is a great tool for telling the deeper stories that can't fit in a tweet. Kastner noted that Multnomah is starting to experiment with using QR codes to drive users to resources the library has developed.
Things libraries need: a plan, a social media policy, and insight into how it fits into workflow. Without a plan, noted Circle, you are basically just "flailing around." Without a social media policy, several panelists said, you are leaving your staff without guidance to the fine lines between what is too personal and the professional. And, obviously, none of this happens without staff involved. Part of the plan, panelists noted, is training to help staff engage and fitting the work into the many changing roles in libraries today.
Other uses of social media called as well. Heather McCormack, editor of the LJ Book Review, urged the audience to use social media to involve readers in the advocacy work that needs to happen to get a workable ebook model for libraries. Stover urged publishers to use social media to bring authors to libraries and keep librarians up to date on where authors are. Librarians are more likely to be involved in content creation and production, as well as deeper curation of existing content.
Perhaps most significantly, however, the panel agreed, the definition of a gatekeeper is going to change, altering where librarians fit into the cultural landscape-an uncharted but immense opportunity.
