Evaluating  American Library Associations (ALA) Tweets: May 1st-7th, 2019

The American Association of School Libraries (AASL), a division of ALA, published a toolkit for libraries and stated that a regular social media presence which highlights developments and acquisitions while modelling school library trends is essential for building credibility amongst your library community (2015, p 3-4).  The ALA’s Twitter account is an exemplary model of its own strategic advice, as it frequently posts vibrant tweets that are in line with its mission statement, which aims to develop, promote and improve library services.
Below is review of a series of Tweets from the first week of May this year and an analysis of how they aim to affect their target audience:

Promotion

ALA’s Twitter banner makes it clear that libraries need funding and voters can make difference. The subsequent Tweets, aim to make voters see why libraries need funding.

Event Driven Content

 

 

Event driven content is commonly employed on social media (Orzechowski, 2017) as it has the potential to demonstrate current trends, promote values and engage the audience. The Tweets above highlight how a library cafe is providing refugees workplace skills at the Brooklyn Public Library, while the second is promoting “Choose Privacy Week” , an ALA initiative that provides individuals and libraries with tools to safeguard their privacy online. ALA wisely highlights some of the more diverse, and perhaps less traditional, initiatives libraries are undertaking to  gain public and government support.

Interaction

 

 

 

 

The above Tweets highlight how libraries are interacting with patrons. The left encouraging followers to co-author an ALA book: “Empowering Communities”. While the right is promoting how ALA is offering grants to aid libraries in creating Digital Skills programs to aid job seekers and small businesses grow. These types of empowering “calls to action” for individuals and libraries showcase the how the ALA is fostering literacy skills and creating a sense of community.

 

Fun Moments

ALA showcases how libraries connect to pop culture, like the “Star Wars” and “Game of Thrones” tweets above. Recognising that, “The fun moments, the serious moments, the quirky moments – all can have a place on social media, all are demonstrations of what patrons can take away from participating in a library event” (Orzechowski, 2017).

This small selection a week’s worth of ALA tweets highlights how they are putting social media  theory into practice, while acting on their mission. Consider their most popular hashtags: Why should we #fundlibraries? Because #librariestransform !

References:

ASSL  Toolkit For Promoting School Library Programs (2015). Retrieved from the American Library Associations Website: http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/toolkits/promo/AASL_Toolkit_Promoting_SLP_033016.pdf

Orzechowski, V. (2017, January 10). #NoFilter: Social media content ideas for libraries [blog post]. LITA Blog. Retrieved from http://litablog.org/2017/01/nofilter-social-media-content-ideas-for-libraries/