Social Media [3:43]

https://players.brightcove.net/2566261579001/HyuWsfFhb_default/index.html?videoId=5836100911001

About

Learn how to take advantage of social media to draw in library users.

Transcript

Most likely, many of your library's users--from teachers to students to parents--are active on social media. Marketing through these platforms allows you to let your community know about what they'll find in the library. In this episode, we will go over some key points for your social media strategy, including purpose, goals, policy, implementation, and evaluation.

Start by taking some time to map social media activity to the mission, goals, and objectives you have developed as a part of your marketing plan. Define what success looks like. What are the core values that you will communicate? How will social media help you fulfill this? Document these ideas in a short "social media purpose" that can help you share this vision with others and keep your actions aligned with the goals.

As you review your marketing goals, set specific ones for social media. Consider the programs, collection, and all who are served by the library when creating them. How will social media be used to promote these goals? Remember, goals should be measurable and meaningful.

Perhaps the goal is to increase use of the library's makerspace. Social media could be used to call attention to particular makerspace projects, maybe you can offer a challenge for users to post images of their makerspace creations.

After you have your social media purpose and goals, you will need to document a policy. Your policy should define how social media will be compatible with the culture of the school or district and document the procedures for use. Think about the school's policy on posting student pictures online and the tone that is used. This all must be determined and documented before moving forward. Be sure to run it by your administration for feedback & buy in.

Now that you have defined the purpose, goals, and policy of your social media program, you are ready to plan your implementation strategy. Social media takes commitment and a plan. This can be manageable by using a well-defined schedule.

Determine who will post and when. It is important to have a regular schedule. You will also want to determine which platforms you will post on. Ask yourself where your stakeholders hang out. Your integration plan must incorporate all the previous work you have done in regards to purpose, goals, and policy. It is helpful to create a school year calendar and plot out your posting schedule.

In addition to implementation planning, you will want to schedule regular quarterly assessments to measure progress and evaluate your social media strategy. There are many tools that can help you with analytics and response. You can find a list of them in our resource section, as well as excellent library social media examples so you can see best practices in action. It will take some time to grow your social media following so be sure to have reasonable expectations.

With attention to purpose, goals, and policy and plans for implementation and evaluation, you can successfully use social media to market to your learning community!

Activities

Fully Connected

Social media trends come and go, but as the lesson video showed, there are ample ways to engage with your library stakeholders through different platforms. Learn more tips from "Creating a Social Media Presence for Your School or Library" by Steven M. Baule and "Take Action! The Connected School Library" by Stony Evans (found in the Resources below), then complete the Reflect & Practice activity.

RESOURCES:

Template

Take Action! The Connected School Library

Article

Creating a Social Media Presence for Your School or Library

Article

REFLECT & PRACTICE:

After reading Baule's and Evans's tips on connecting to stakeholders through social media, develop your own social media marketing strategy by completing pages 14–16 in the Marketing Plan Template.

Entry ID: 2174993

Additional Resources

Supporting Resources from Libraries Unlimited.

About the Authors

Rebecca J. Morris, MLIS, PhD, is teaching associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. She earned her master's degree and doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh and her undergraduate degree in elementary education at Pennsylvania State University. Rebecca has published articles in journals including School Library Research, Knowledge Quest, School Libraries Worldwide, Teacher Librarian and the Journal of Research on Young Adults in Libraries. She is the author of School Libraries and Student Learning: A Guide for School Leaders (Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2015). Rebecca is a former elementary classroom teacher and middle school librarian.

Email: rmorris@schoollibraryconnection.com

Twitter: @rebeccajm87.

Stony Evans, MS, is an adjunct instructor at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. He earned his master's in library science from the University of North Texas and a master's in library media and information technologies from the University of Central Arkansas. He served as a teacher-librarian for 12 years. Stony received the Arkansas Library Association's Retta Patrick Award in 2017. He was a finalist for the AASL's 2017 Sensational Student Voice – Social Media Superstar award. He was selected as the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media's Library Media Specialist of the Year in 2013. Visit his blog at librarymediatechtalk.blogspot.com, email him at stony12270@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @stony12270.

Jane Cullina, MSEd, is the professional development manager for School Library Connection and ABC-CLIO. A former children's librarian and humanities teacher, Jane earned her master's degree from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City and has taught in Boston, New York, Maine, California, and South Africa.

Jennifer Gibson, MA, earned a teaching credential and master's in technology from Chapman University, where she was an adjust faculty member for over seven years. With over 20 years of education experience, Jennifer fuels her vision, innovation and leadership by blending educational experience with professional development, educational policy, eLearning, and standards-based design to support educators in professional learning.

Select Citation Style:

MLA Citation

Editorial Team, SLC. "Marketing the Library. Social Media [3:43]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, October 2018, schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2174914?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902.

Chicago Citation

Editorial Team, SLC. "Marketing the Library. Social Media [3:43]." School Library Connection video. October 2018. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2174914?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902.

APA Citation

Editorial Team, S. (2018, October). Marketing the library. Social media [3:43] [Video]. School Library Connection. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2174914?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902

https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2174914?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902

Entry ID: 2174914