USING MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICES TO REACH THE UNDERSERVED ALA ANNUAL, ANAHEIM, CA JUNE 23, AMANDA JACOBS FOUST Serving Communities Outside the Walls of the Library
Marin County Free Library: Overview All staff are encouraged to participate 1-2 hours per month/30 minutes per week Five social media platforms: o Blogs o Facebook o Flickr o Twitter o Youtube
Featured Blogs Stats Four Featured Staff Blogs Combined total of 90 entries 8,704 pageviews Average views per entry: 98
Internal Blogs/The Website Total pages views for site: 673, 284 Total Visitors: 66,888 Average visit duration: 3:31 minutes Average page views per visit: 4.13 Of interest: Mobile Usage Top 5 Devices 1. Apple iPads 2. Apple iPhone 3. Apple iPod Touch 4. SonyEricsson LT15i Xperia Arc 5. HTC EVO 4G
Facebook, Flickr & Twitter Facebook: 163 Likes Flickr: 634 photos on the site Flickr views: 17,731 Average view per photo: 27 Daily average of views: 65 284 followers 2298 tweets 216 followers 920 tweets
Youtube 29 videos 2055 views Average view per video is 71 Top 5 Videos on Youtube: 1. Banned Books Week Virtual Readout: A Reading from Sylvester and the Magic Pebble 2. Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railroad, Winnie the Witch 4. Webstar Computer Build Tutorial 5. Hotel Rafael March
Why? Promote the library and it’s value to our communities Reach out to people where they are already getting their information Proactive customer service Publicize events and services Replicate in-person experience online
How… website
How… blogs
How… Facebook
How… Flickr
How… Twitter or #bookmobile
How… Twitter
How… YouTube
Honorable Mention: Pinterest
Best Practices Include photos or videos whenever possible Limit one link per post Blog posts: word limit Facebook: Six words, plus visual content & link ideal, 3-5 times per day Twitter: 20 times per day. Include visuals, one link and don’t forget hashtags Don’t be afraid to make mistakes Have fun!!!
Tips & Tricks Maintain a social media binder at each location with logins, cheat sheets, toolkits and resources Become a subject specialist Maintain a calendar posting commitments Use a content creation form to develop posts and brainstorm Talk to colleagues and patrons for inspiration Sign up and use platforms to get a feel for their strengths and differences. Use Hootsuite or similar tools
Resources King, David Lee. (May 27, 2011). Facebook for Libraries. American Libraries. Abram, Carolyn & Pearlman, Leah. (2010). Facebook for Dummies Cheat Sheet. Dummies.com [website]. to/content/facebook-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.htmlhttp:// to/content/facebook-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html Video tour. (Simple, easy-to-follow instructions and overview) Help section. (Organized by category; simple explanations) FAQ's. (Offers FAQ search box or topics divided by categories) College Degrees [website]. (2008). 50+ resources for Libraries: Getting Started, Uses, Tools, & Guides. Ault, Julia. (July, 2010). Using Twitter as your Personal Learning Network (PLN): Part 1 - Building Your Toolbox. The Twitter Glossary has more lingo: Article - How Libraries Can Leverage Twitter: AtYourLibrary.org [YouTube channel]. (2011). American Library Association. Flipspotlight: Nonprofit Video Toolkit. (February 14, 2008). Cisco [tutorial]. Part 4 about editing is particularly helpful. King, David Lee. (February, 2011). 5 Tips [3-part video series]. WebJunction
Questions? Amanda Jacobs Foust Electronic Services Librarian (415)