Presented for the Introduction to Information Technology graduate course at the University of Missouri School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, November 15, 3014.

1. The Social Library
Community
Connections
Conversations
Christa Burns
Nebraska Library Commission
November 15, 2014

3. The Library is our Brand
 Market it just like companies do.
 What are we ‘selling’?
 Collections
 Events
 Author visits
 Story time
 Finals week extra hours
 Study rooms
 Everything that your library does!

21. Have a plan
 Social Media Policy
 Don’t just do it because everyone else is
doing it.
 Why you’re doing it. Expectations? Goals?
 Who will do it. Responsibilities?
 How will you measure success/failure?
 Don’t be afraid to fail. Step back, evaluate,
try again.

22. Go where your users are
 Don’t do it all.
 Figure out what YOUR library’s patrons are
using and be there.
 Most common questions.
 Fullest classes.
 Do a survey/poll.
 Ask!
 Non-users, too.
 Ultimate goal – create an online community.

23. Is it working?
 Statistics - measure usage and ROI.
 Facebook Insights
 Twitter activity
 Flickr – views, referrers
 Pinterest – followers, repins
 Instagram – followers, likes
 Observe how your community interacts
with each other on your library’s social
media sites and what they like to discuss.

24. Questions???
Christa Burns
Special Projects Librarian
Nebraska Library Commission
christa.burns@nebraska.gov
800-307-2665