Social Media and Readers' Advisory

Rebecca Anwyll and Brenda Chawner (2013) were guest columnists alongside columnist/editor Laurel Tarulli and wrote a column named Social Media and Readers' Advisory, in the Reference & Users Services Quarterly journal. They examined the use of social media for Readers' Advisory (RA) by interviewing 15 librarians from New Zealand public libraries. The information that Anwyll and Chawner provided were very similar to the way American libraries use social media to interact with patrons. 

Here are some key points that were very interesting to me as a librarian. The key reasons for adopting social media in libraries were staff interest, attending conferences, and monitoring trends (p. 113). One of the main objectives for engaging library users was to promote Readers' Advisory by posting content about new resources, books, reviews, and blogs. The interviewees acknowledged that there should be more positive awareness of Readers' Advisory (p. 117) in social media, but there must be an exact distinction between just posting links about new books and RA. If social media is used wisely in libraries, RA would thrive. For example, there's plenty of websites and links that could be posted to Facebook  and Twitter. Goodreads and NoveList would be great links share with patrons. 

It is also interesting to note that New Zealand libraries are governed a little differently than American libraries. New Zealand libraries are governed by local city (district) councils which in part have policies and guidelines in place to govern how social media is utilized. Councils are in charge of what libraries can post on its Facebook or Twitter. Some librarians that were interviewed were not allowed to post anything political or even negative, which seems to me to be understandable. It appears that these particular city councils have a reputation to uphold and if publicizing negativity would be bad for public relations. I personally searched for public libraries in New Zealand who participated in some type of social network. It was very difficult to find one on social media, but did find the Porirua Library on Facebook. 

One librarian had mentioned their council developed eight commandments for social postings. One of the most interesting commandments was this: "Be social. You only get out what you put in. Share the love (p.116)." That statement is so true and should be to all librarians. We need the share our love for the library and how the library can be useful to all people in its service area. 

Anwyll, R., Chawner, B., & Tarulli, L. (2013). Social Media and Readers' Advisory. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 53(2), 113-118.

Porirua Library. (n.d.). Porirua Library Facebook page. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/Porirua-Library-276031052466679/

Taupo District Council. (n.d.). Libraries and museums. Retrieved from http://www.taupodc.govt.nz/our-services/libraries-and-museum/Pages/libraries-and-museum.aspx]

Taupo Public Library. (n.d). Taupo Public Library [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.taupodc.govt.nz/our-services/libraries-and-museum/libraries/PublishingImages/Taupo-library-560x321.jpg