Since the dawn of civilization, the passing of knowledge from one person to the next has been the remarkable and fascinating story of the human race’s progress throughout the ages. Whilst pre-historic cave paintings were used in our earliest of days, the invention of the printing press and eventually the Internet confirmed the exchange of information that has been the backbone of human history. And where better a place to share and exchange this information than at your local library? This is why we decided to feature our very own Hennepin County Library on this week’s #SocialSpotlight! Their use of social media may well apply to your own local library and we encourage you to reconnect, visit and support your library! Hennepin County Library uses the same social networks that many other of our #SocialSpotlight companies do, including Facebook and Twitter for written word content, but also more visual channels such as YouTube, Vimeo, Tumblr and Flickr.
The Online Community
The key to Hennepin County Library social media is really centered on how to make the most of the library services, how to be involved and meet with your local community. Facebook is, as ever, a prime example of how they achieve this – with posts featuring up-and-coming events, book sales, how-tos, cultural, local, and world events, and all of the library services available.
This resource is really a guide to help you find exactly what you are looking for. Whether that’s to track down information, find that perfect book, help downloading an eBook from the library or to learn something new from one of the many courses and events. Their Facebook site really is the ultimate guide to making the most of the services they offer. Yet, if you get stuck with any of these services or have a question about one of the up-and-coming events, you can always turn to Hennepin County Libraries’ Twitter service. Simply tweet the @hclib account and ask away – their friendly social media staff will happily help you out, guiding you to exactly what you need in 140 characters or less. The Twitter account will also make sure you never miss any of their Facebook content or latest community news, including local alerts relating to library services.
Pictures Paint a Thousand Words
You may associate libraries with reading and the written text, but they say a picture paints a thousand words and the Hennepin County Library knows this all too well. Pictures, visuals, diagrams and photographs are important elements of the library to tell stories and pass on information to spark the imagination. Hennepin County Library’s social media, therefore, also embraces the world of the visual!
Both YouTube and Vimeo are used to upload friendly and easy-to-understand tutorials on how to get the best results from your library card membership. For example, how do you download an eBook or music tracks from the library’s vast collection? Demonstrations and taster videos of the latest events to whet your appetite for more or to look back at previous events are all online for your viewing pleasure. If you thought that the library was a boring and quiet place, you’d be wrong. The Hennepin County Library is a colorful and lively place and evidence of this can be found all over their Flickr account – featuring children’s events, drawings, and activities for the rejuvenation and development of the library, demonstrating the appeal for children to visit.
The Classics
Despite the modern online, social, technological, fun and vibrant place the library is for the local community these days, putting out the ‘classic’ reads is still the aim of the library. Hennepin County Library’s Tumblr page has been selected as the place where you can check out those classics you may never have heard of or have yet to encounter.
While the features are centered on classics, they do also make space for some local and cultural information to be shared in posts that are a bit more detailed than the Facebook-esque short and snappy posts.
Cover All Bases
It seems that Hennepin County Library has all of the social media channels covered and wants you to be their next regular visitor. While the Internet is a vast and expansive source of information that you can access from just about anywhere, we still believe that your local library is more than just a place to search out information – it’s a community hotspot and we urge you to find out more about and support your own local library. Just like your library, we’re keen for your engagement with us! Please let us know in the comments how you utilize your local library, your latest reads and any businesses or outlets you’d like us to cover in our future #SocialSpotlight features.
