Thing 10 - Sharing Photos

I already had both Instagram and Snapchat apps on my phone. I use them every day for my personal use. 

I've seen a couple of radio stations who have Snapchat for their morning shows and you can add them and see funny photos or get sneak peeks into upcoming contests on the radio. I think I would create a separate Snapchat account for the library instead of using my personal one if I were going to do this. I could send Snaps to patrons with "new arrival" movies and books. I definitely think kids and teens would enjoy this type of interaction. 

Here's a recent Snapchat I received when my son's auntie was babysitting him!

As far as Instagram goes, I have my Instagram account connected to Twitter and Facebook, so that's how I share my personal photos after editing them. I definitely think there's a balance that needs to be kept as to how many different social networks the library uses. You want to cater to all of your patrons, but on the other hand, you only have a certain amount of time you can take to upload content to different networks. Apps like Hootsuite are helpful because you can link networks together and do one post, but it is still possible to stretch yourself too thin. 

Here's one of my all-time favorite photos taken and edited with Instagram. This is what I saw from the circulation desk last summer:

Thing 9 - Taking and Editing Photos

I downloaded CamMe and ColorSplurge. Here's a collage of some of the silly photos I've taken or edited with these two apps. 

I thought it was fun to use these apps for my personal use, but I definitely see value in using them at the library. My first thought was to use CamMe during children's programming. Kids love taking pictures. I can see myself setting up the iPad and using the CamMe app to have the kids take photos of themselves with their finished projects or favorite books and then uploading them to Facebook and our website. With CamMe, they can take the pictures by themselves and I can focus my attention on the kids who are waiting their turn! I'll do anything to make a 1-librarian library more efficient!

I think ColorSplurge would be useful for some of our displays that we put on Facebook. An area library has a "spotlight" shelf and they feature a book. We could take this online by photographing several readalike books and then "spotlighting" one or more by putting color with it. This would be a good project for teen volunteers. 

My favorite photo apps are PicStitch (which I used to make the collage above) and Instagram. I use them nearly every day! Very easy to use and free. There are some in-app purchases you can make in PicStitch.

Thing 8 - Social Media Management Tools

I regularly use Hootsuite, Twitter and Facebook. I would say I use Facebook more for personal use (with the exception of a couple of pages and groups that I manage) and I use Twitter and Hootsuite for professional use. 

I manage a Facebook Page for the library where I am the director. I update the cover photo and make events and schedule (using Hootsuite) posts to happen at least once a day but usually twice a day. I read an article once about what time of the day people most frequently check their Facebook newsfeed, so I always schedule my posts around those times (11am-1pm and 7-9pm). I know you can schedule posts in Facebook now but I still use Hootsuite because that's what I used before that feature was included in Facebook. I also have my Hootsuite page connected to the library's Twitter account so by updating once, it goes to multiple accounts. So efficient!! 

I also use Hootsuite when I'm at conferences or events where there's a #convo happening at the same time as presentations and sessions. It is easier for me to keep track of the conversations and what's happening than if I use the regular Twitter app.

I also have a "thread" on Hootsuite so I can follow #libchat. I haven't participated in several months due to a change in my schedule, but I have it set up so I see the Libchat convo and my Twitter mentions all at the same time. 

Here are a couple of my screenshots for my use of Hootsuite with my library's Facebook page.

Thing 7 - Content Saving & Sharing

I have used Pinterest since it was in beta form. I'm not sure how I was lucky enough to get one of the first opportunities to use it, but I was! I've used it to plan wedding showers, create reading lists for friends and library patrons, plan summer reading programs, young adult displays, and most recently, I've added a board for baby/nursery ideas. 

One thing I've noticed as more and more people have been using Pinterest is the fact that where many pins used to be DIY, now they link to a store or are so complicated that there's now way it can be DIY. Oh, and I'm annoyed by the stickers with incorrect quotations that show up all the time. I know some people browse Pinterest about as often as Facebook, but I'm not one of those people anymore. I use it when I have a specific project (planning a program, looking for kid friendly recipes, decorating a nursery) to work on and I use it primarily on my computer, but I do use it on my phone when I'm showing someone a pin or board I've saved and they're sitting next to me. 

I will say the iRead Pinterest board has some really great ideas!!

Other great people to follow are Dianne Pinney from Le Sueur Public Library and Stacy Lienemann from the Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System.