For this blog post, I chose to examine the Chicago Public Library’s use of social media. Initially, I became interested in this particular institution because of their Tumblr blog (which I will describe in more detail later on). I am not a patron of the Chicago Public Library, but as a Tumblr user, I'm a fan of their Tumblr blog. The Chicago Public Library also uses the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Vimeo. The library's social media sites provide separate functions for the library, although I will point to some exceptions. The library also uses their sites regularly to communicate and interact with patrons, and in the case of their Tumblr blog, with other institutions in the library community.
To start, I looked at the library’s Facebook page. The library’s Facebook page dates back to 2008 and almost 27,000 users have liked the page so far. In many cases, patrons use Facebook as a direct communication medium to contact library staff members. Recent posts on the public wall include several instances of patrons asking about library policies and procedures. Questions that might have previously been asked through a quick telephone call or an email message can now be accessed and viewed by other patrons who like and follow the page. The benefit of such public interaction is that more people can find out information about library procedures and resources.
In these examples, the library answers questions from patrons directly, except for in the first where the patron asked for a reply by email. Also note the above example where a patron asked a question on the 13th of October, but didn’t receive an answer until 4 days later. Unfortunately, the library doesn’t always respond to posts in a timely manner, but I could not find an example of the library actually ignoring a question completely. However, a recent technological mishap with the library’s website received immediate attention (the third example).
The library also uses the Facebook page in more traditional ways. Current programs and events get advertised as well as themed posts for seasonal activities and holidays. Posts also link the library to the surrounding Chicago community. A recent post celebrated the birth of Pablo Picasso with an accompanying picture of his untitled sculpture in downtown Chicago. The post generated hundreds of likes, but in no way advertised or even talked about any events, materials or collections at the library. Posts also showcase novelty and sentimental aspects associated with library use (i.e. pictures of children holding their first library card), but also include more practical, lifestyle-oriented posts (i.e. an article describing helpful resources for small business owners). The library’s Facebook page is also regularly linked with the Chicago Public Library Foundation's Facebook page, which is a partnering organization that works to “enrich the collections and programs of the library.” The Foundation’s page also promotes programs, but also more specifically, donation opportunities for patrons to support the library.
Flickr
The library uses Flickr primarily for its YouMedia Project. The YouMedia project was an organized effort to build teen learning spaces at several of the library’s locations around the city of Chicago. One of the goals of the new interactive spaces is to connect teens with digital media to further enhance their digital literacy skills. Although it’s unclear if young patrons at the centers are responsible for the content of the page, the Flickr page includes pictures from events held at the YouMedia centers. The site doesn't get connected out to the library's other social media sites much, though, so it remains relatively hidden in comparison to some of their other platforms.
The library’s use of Twitter is perhaps the most disappointing social media outlet for the institution. With only 667 followers, the Twitter page, which is titled Not What You Think, essentially just points to posts on the library’s Tumblr blog. I find this disappointing because Twitter has such an enormous potential audience. While I believe in the effectiveness of cross-referencing social media posts (especially if institutions are organized enough to prevent continuous overlap), I do think Twitter could offer a separate functionality of its own, one that doesn't get utilized when Twitter posts simply just point elsewhere. A reason for this directional usage could be that Twitter limits the amount of characters per Tweet. The advantage to this strategy could be that when each Tumblr post gets promoted through the library’s Twitter account, the potential for more exposure for those Tumblr posts increases. The Chicago Public Library Twitter also utilizes hashtags to at least connect Twitter posts to others on the site, but far less extensively than tagging on their Tumblr page.
Vimeo
The Chicago Public Library also has a Vimeo account, which is a video site similar to Youtube, but unfortunately, the site is hardly even used. I found the site through a link on the Tumblr blog, but the main library website doesn’t even link to the Vimeo account at all. I only point it out because the account stands as the library’s only attempt to interact with video streaming social media sites, so obviously a decision must have been made at some point to discontinue this avenue of social media use.
Tumblr
I found the library’s use of their Tumblr blog to be the most impressive and innovative among their social media sites. Unlike Twitter, Tumblr allows for full blog postings, as well as more integrated use of media such as images, audio, and video materials. The Chicago Public Library makes great use of each of these with regular posts that appear almost every single day. Posts often incorporate similar themes from the library’s Facebook page, discussing events and issues related to the Chicago area, as well as promoting events held at the library. Where the library’s Tumblr differs, however, is in how it also connects Chicago Public Library to the larger library community. The library does this by posting about innovative library projects at other institutions, as well as general library-related issues and by using tags to connect Chicago Public Library’s posts to other blogs on Tumblr. Chicago Public Library uses general tags such as “libraries” and “library” which also get regular use from fellow libraries with Tumblr blogs. The effect is similar to hashtags on Twitter, but the library appears to put much more effort into choosing Tumblr tags for their posts.
While some posts do overlap between the Facebook and the Tumblr, I believe the difference with their Tumblr is this obvious attempt to reach out to users that aren't necessarily going to be regular patrons of the Chicago Public Library. I mentioned before that I'm obviously not a patron of the CPL, but I do read their Tumblr blog. I've reblogged their posts before even, and yet, I haven't even stepped foot inside the building. This difference is what makes Tumblr slightly different than other social media platforms, and the Chicago Public Library clearly understands that.
Unfortunately, Tumblr does not publicly display the amount of followers for a particular blog unless that blog somehow incorporates the statistic into their layout, so that makes it difficult to determine a rough estimate of how many people read the library’s Tumblr. However, another indicator of popularity for Tumblr involves the amount of “notes” on blog posts. Notes for posts are generated when other Tumblr users either “Like” or “Reblog” a particular post. Liking a post on Tumblr is similar to liking a post on Facebook, but reblogging a post means that a user chooses for that post to appear on their own Tumblr blog. A recent post from November 7th about a program hosted by YouMedia has 123 notes attached and another with just a picture of a young girl and her first library card has 84 notes attached. The blog definitely seems to have a presence on Tumblr and with Tumblr users, who may not even be actual patrons of the library.
Conclusion
While the main site for the Chicago Public Library doesn’t include a clearly stated social media policy, I do believe that a decent amount of thought has gone into their presence on social media sites and how they can interact with patrons and even non-patrons through those sites. They focus on their Facebook and Tumblr blog, but each platform gets used for separate functions and their pages do not exist as mirrors of one another. Their Twitter also has regular updates, but merely works to further enhance the exposure of the Tumblr blog, which is a platform that allows for posts with more content and variety. Their social media approach and presence incorporates much more social outreach to the Chicago community as well as the larger library-related internet community and much less promotion of their materials and collections. In that way, the Chicago Public Library uses social media as an interaction tool, a face for patrons to communicate with in a digital setting, that can exist prominently within its own local community but also elsewhere with other related institutions.
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