Best Uses of Facebook for Libraries

Like blogs, Facebook can be used to share text, images, links, and videos. Links on Facebook often come with an automatic blurb about the link and an image from the source. In addition to this, most Facebook users have a high number of friends and pages they follow, meaning posts made or shared on Facebook will be seen amongst a high volume of other posts and information. As such Facebook tends to be less about creating original content and more about spreading news and engaging audiences with short and attention-grabbing posts.

Facebook can be used by libraries in the following ways:

• Advertise events.
• Create specific pages for events - a page that journalists and interested people can refer to for all information and updates on the event, for example the Library Lover's Day Facebook.
• Let people know about things happening in the library and the wider community - linking to other pages and sites with more extensive information. Moonee Valley Libaries use their Facebook page in this way.
• Notify followers of new books and acquisitions.
• Share relevant links, images, and videos.
• Reach a large audience on a regular basis - a lot of people will see status updates and things shared by the library's page. This audience is also likely to be of an adult age group, so content can be tailored to this specific user base.
• Gather feed back and suggestions via comments and "Likes".

Best Uses of Blogs for Libraries

There are many different ways  libraries can use blogs. Here's why I think blogs are good tools for libraries to use.


Blogs allow libraries to create their own space that is widely accessible to their community. Anyone with internet access can view and interact with a blog.

Their is very little restriction on the possible content of blogs. Posts can be long or short and have links, images, or videos embedded in them. They are versatile, opening them up to be used for a wide range of purposes. For example:

• Some libraries use blogs to store and share information that can be searched for and found by their users. The Yarra Plenty Regional Library does this with multiple blogs on certain topics that have archives going back to 2010 - all of which are available online. The National Library of Australia also has a variety of blogs that follow projects the library is undertaking. As such blogs provide a way for libraries to expand their user-base as well as create new content to be shared and archived.
• (Similarly, labels and tags on blog posts mean that people can easily find all posts relating to a particular tag, so even if a blog has a lot of varying posts and information, users can still find what is relevant to them.)
• Many blogs are used to update people on current and upcoming events, notifying users when new acquisitions are made and keeping people informed on what is happening at the library and the in the community. The Frankston City Libraries' blog The Blogalogue is an example of this.
• Users can comment on blog posts, meaning the people visiting the blog can share their thoughts and even ask questions, getting involved with the library when they previously may not have.
• Blogs may also provide simple information like opening hours and borrowing.
• Blogs often provide links for relevant services like e-libraries or ways to renew loans online.
• Blogs may also be a place for the discussion of library services by people working in the field and a way to share readings on the topic of libraries. An example of a blog being used in this way is the Boroondara Libraries blog, I Read This Thing.

[Edited 10/03/15]

Using HTML to Embed a Video

Time to test my html skills (or rather, my copying and pasting skills) to see if I can embed a video in this post! Testing, testing...

Edit: I had to go back to youtube to change the size of the video because it was too large for the size of my blog.