Two likes in the hand is worth one comment in the basket… or something like that

With the advent of social media and online communities, aspects of our daily lives become more and more virtual. And the libraries the wondrous staff that operate them is no stranger to this trend. Utilizing social media platforms as methods of communication between the library and library patrons, engaging users in offline and online activities, and providing free access to public and literary resources. You can read more about it in my paper here. Libraries are using social media for so many amazing things these days but it hadn’t started that way necessarily. There wasn’t a “Social Media for Libraries 101” manual being taught in LIS programs or provided to professionals when MySpace came out. Everything we know now about effectively using social media and online communication methods came through trial and error. We are still learning every day, but it’s clear librarians have made serious strides. This is evident by the posts from five years ago to today. Wanna see libraries who do it well? Follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Support them, retweet their posts, comment and interact, give them a like, share their content. Cheer them on! It’s not easy to run social media accounts well and getting support from your followers is the first step to feeling confident in your abilities to communicate effectively and provide the right kind of content. You know how they say support small businesses to boost the American economy? And someone created “Small Business Saturday?” Well It’s Support Social Libraries everyday and it’ll boost your community and social media feeds. You’ll thank me later.