Connecting Communities through Social Media

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) has fully embraced social media, especially as a tool to reach customers who may not be visiting branches regularly. The increase in digital tools, such as e-books and databases, that can be accessed from anywhere has increased the importance of social media and other tools to reach customers who may never enter a branch. MCPL initiated use of social media as a one-way communication tool in 2009 before initiating a more interactive model in 2014 after reexamination. From 2013 through the present, MCPL has continued to grow its social media presence, including adopting new social media platforms, and creating tools and campaigns to support both special events and ongoing projects. Social media has now become a fully developed community building tool that can be used both to share information about County services and programs and to engage with customers about topics or provide quality customer service. MCPL’s social media accounts have an engaging tone and voice that utilize humor and personality. Channels share engaging content to attract customers and link the content either directly or indirectly to library services, thus raising awareness of these services. By using social media, MCPL can engage with customers even when they are not present in our branches, and can reach individuals who prefer to use these mediums to engage with organizations. This program can be measured quantitatively through follower and engagement statistics, and also qualitatively though examination of customers served through social media platforms.