Washoe County Public Library System

Washoe County Library System

My hometown Library System

In this blog post I plan to reflect on the Washoe County Library System's (WCLS) use of social media. In reviewing the social media policy and uses by WCLS I started with the library system's home page. As can be seen in the screen shot below, the library home page does have social media buttons located "below the fold" meaning that you must scroll down to view them.

The applications used for social media by WCLS include Facebook, twitter, Flickr, and Goodreads. There is also a button that can be used to ask a librarian a question included in the social media button grouping.

Strategic Plans

In reviewing strategic plans of the library system I found two strategic objectives that could be related to the creation of a social media policy. The 2014-2018 Strategic Plan developed by WCLS includes a strategic objective of, "Reaching more people through expanded methods of service delivery." This objective supports the Washoe County overall objective of," Safe, secure and healthy communities." Guiding strategies to meet this goal are described as serving people where they are with the goals of developing an action plan to rebuild the libraries outreach program as well as to begin redesigning the library website under Washoe Counties new content-management system.

The other strategic objective that I believe relates to social media development is, "Open, two-way communication between the community and the Library." This objective supports the Washoe County overall objective of, "Public participation & open, transparent communication." Guiding strategies to meet this goal include delivering consistent messaging incorporating mission, vision, values, gathering and applying public feedback and building relationships with library users. The goal created to reach this objective is the implementation of a communications plan, with the possible assistance from a PR/marketing firm.

I predict that WCLS will continue to use and develop social media tools and resources to reach the digital public in reaching these strategic objectives and guiding strategies. In examining the current use of social media by the WCLS I will look at the systems use of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Goodreads.

Facebook

I began by looking at WCLS's Facebook page. The WCLS has 12 branches within the county library system, but all are linked through a single social media group, the Washoe County Library System. I found that the Facebook page had 1,661 likes and allowed for users to comment on posts but not directly post feed themselves. The posted material included library program and workshop information, library events, human resource information such as retirements and birthdays, community information such as holidays and road closures, job listings within the WCLS, and a few posts related to new acquisitions or highlighting special collections. The screenshot below shows a post related to new acquisitions, below that is a post highlighting an item from special collections, and next to that is a photo of the library staff getting dressed up for Halloween. 

The Facebook page also has a section where users can review their library experience based on a five-star rating system. Other content posted includes polls, questions, contents, photos and links. Through Facebook there is a link to YouTube although there are no linked videos. The Facebook page also links to a RSS feed x

Twitter

The WCLS Twitter page has a total of 313 posts and is described as, "Your destination for discovery." The handle has a total of 102 followers with 29 users currently following the library system. Much of the Twitter content duplicates the Facebook posts with the exception of human resources postings. The ability to review the library system and its locations is also not an included feature of the Twitter feed.

Flickr & Goodreads

Washoe County Library System also uses two other social media systems: Flickr and Goodreads. The WCLS Flickr was established in October of 2007 and has a total of 242 photos, mostly relating to library events. The other category of photos included are the results of library sponsored contests, such as the results of the Teen Read Week Photo Contest, in which readers posted a photo that created a visual version of the reader's favorite book title.

The group is following four other individuals/institutions including the ALA, the Chicago Ridge Public Library, user pollyalida and user wclsturi. It is also a part of the group Nevada Libraries Snapshot Day.

The final social media used by WCLS is Goodreads. The Goodreads group has 72 members. The group is public and states that it is used as a space to, "share, discuss, critique, laud, participate, appreciate, and disagree about reading, books, and authors." The group holds meetings as well as hosts online discussion groups relating to book club choices.

As can be seen in the comparison chart below, WCLS uses Facebook and Twitter for much of the same content posting. Much of the Twitter feed relates back to the library system's Facebook postings. The key differences between the use of these two social media are the posting of human resource material to Facebook but not Twitter as well as Twitter's lack of five-star review system. Flickr is used to house photos from library events and contents. Goodreads is used by library users as an online meeting location for book-groups and clubs.

Resources:

Washoe County Library. "Washoe County Library." Flickr.com. October, 2007. Web. November 11, 2013.<http://www.flickr.com/people/washoecountylibrary/>

Washoe County Library System. "Washoe County Library." Facebook.com. June 14, 2009. Web. November 11, 2013.< www.facebook.com/washoecountylibrary>

Washoe County Library System. "WashoeCountyLibrary @WashoeLibrary" Twitter.com. Web. November 11, 2013. <https://twitter.com/WashoeLibrary>

Washoe County Library System. "Washoe County Library @ Goodreads" Goodreads.com. October 7th, 2012. Web. November 11, 2013. <https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/50013-washoe-county-library-goodreads>

United States. Washoe County. Washoe County Library System. Washoe County Library System FY 2014-FY 2018 Strategic Plan. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Washoe County Library System. 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://www.washoecounty.us/repository/files/8/WCLS-StrategicPlan-7-13-13.pdf>.