Reaching Your Community via Social Media: Academic Libraries and Librarians Using Facebook and Twitter for Outreach

Abstract

In the case studies presented in this chapter, two librarians from a large U.S. university library share experiences and recommendations for using social media as a library communication tool. Emily Treptow managed Facebook and Twitter accounts for a branch business library. Deborah Margolis uses a personal Facebook account as a liaison librarian, and reports on colleagues’ Twitter usage. In this chapter, Margolis and Treptow primarily use personal observation to make recommendations for branch library and subject librarian social media usage. Choosing a social media platform, best practices for using social media (such as how much, when, and what to post), and assessing your social media use will be discussed. Considerations including audience, privacy, content and format of posts, frequency and timing of posts, and time commitment of the librarian will be addressed.

“E.A. Treptow formerly at Michigan State University currently at University of Chicago.”