Using Social Media in Libraries: Best Practices [Paperback]

Since theres no point in Twittering if no one acts on your tweets and theres no point in having a Facebook page with a million likes if library use doesnt increase, youll welcome the eight best practices presented here because they will help your library both actually do social media in a way that matters and do it well.

The successful strategies presented here range from the Vancouver Public Librarys innovative use of Twitter to the United Nations Librarys adoption of a social media policy to the Farmington, Connecticut Public Librarys fantastic work using social media to reach teens who werent using the library. Other libraries highlight their ventures into media including blogs, Pinterest, and social catalogs.

Charles Harmon is an Executive Editor for the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. His background includes work in special, public, and school libraries.

Michael Messina is a reference librarian at the State University of New Yorks Maritime College. He has also worked as a researcher at The Brooklyn Academy of Music Archives. The former publisher of Applause Theatre & Cinema Books/Limelight Editions, he is a coeditor of Acts of War: Iraq and Afghanistan in Seven Plays (Northwestern University Press).

Eight librarian contributors share their experiences blogging, pinning, and tweeting from public, academic, and special libraries. Case studies range from relatively simple (new-book displays on Pinterest) to labor-intensive (overlaying social-browsing features on a library catalog). Authors emphasize not jumping on the newest, shiniest services without considering staff time and commitment, and they discuss how each tool fits with the librarys mission and community. Project-specific WordPress scripts and Drupal settings benefit readers. Overall, the studies provide practical, tested advice from a range of library types. Booklist

This book explores successful strategies in using all types of social mel“~