The Social Library in the Virtual Branch: Serving Adults and Teens in Social Spaces

Abstract

As adults and young adults have become increasingly active on social media, public libraries have incorporated social media alongside their more traditional services. However, libraries are faced with the challenging task of determining how to successfully engage with their users through social media. This chapter examines research literature from both social media and information studies to explore evidence-based results on providing popular information services and resources for adult and young adult users in social spaces. Key elements of social media use by libraries identified in this review include promotion of information resources and services, participation and engagement, social care, pastoral care, outreach, cocreation and motivation of users, advocacy and crowdsourcing, and measurement and assessment. Based on results from current research, best practices and assessment methods for social media are discussed which offer practical considerations for selecting social media platforms appropriate to a library’s mission, goals, and objectives, with examples relevant to a variety of social media platforms. The chapter also offers a review of social media platforms, practices, and assessment designed to inform librarians and library managers in decision-making about library social media efforts.

Citation

Mon, L. and Phillips, A. (2015), "The Social Library in the Virtual Branch: Serving Adults and Teens in Social Spaces", Current Issues in Libraries, Information Science and Related Fields (Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 39), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 241-268. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-283020150000039016