Strategic Planning for Social Media in Libraries

Citation

Butler, K. (2013), "Strategic Planning for Social Media in Libraries", Library Management, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 255-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121311310932

The social media revolution is changing the way individuals and organisations interact, and libraries are not immune from this. But never fear; Sarah Steiner is here to guide library professionals through the minefield that is strategic planning for social media. Strategic Planning for Social Media in Libraries is the fifteenth title in the Tech Set series and is designed to guide professionals through a project from start to finish. The book is accompanied by a website (see www.alatechsource.org/techset), which although brief does provide a list of valuable electronic resources and a podcast with the author and editor discussing the book. Each chapter sets out the process of designing, creating, implementing, marketing and measuring a strategic plan for social media in a clear and simple manner that even the beginner can understand.

The text starts with an introduction to social media and strategic planning so that even a novice user can understand the importance of both social media and strategic planning to modern libraries. Following the introductory chapter, readers are walked through the different solutions to strategic planning and the planning process itself. This is covered over three chapters and is peppered with short case studies, tips and hints, and figures to better illustrate areas of importance. This is continued throughout the text. The author keeps the language simple and tries to avoid over‐complicating the planning process, which is of particular use to beginners in this field. Additionally, the author takes note of the difference in library size that the reader may be working in and ensures that the explanations are scalable.

Once readers have understood the planning process, Steiner leads them through implementing the process. This chapter outlines exactly what to expect when getting a social media strategic plan up and running. Steiner's discussion is noticeably practical, and she details the many common difficulties related to implementing strategic plans as well as ways to avoid and overcome them. It is in this chapter that readers are provided with a list of useful free survey and evaluation tools. Steiner stresses the importance of continual evaluation, reminding readers that a plan is ineffective if it is not tested and reflected upon so that changes can be made. This measuring of the success, or failure, of a plan is further discussed in a later chapter. Following the implementation chapter is a discussion on marketing, both internally and externally. Again, Steiner uses examples to identify techniques that can work in a variety of libraries. The importance of brand development is stressed, particularly as it relates to social media, which has many pitfalls due to its informal nature. While much of this advice appears generic and applicable to a variety of situations, Steiner does well to relate each point to social media technologies.

The final chapters explore the emerging trends and best practices relating to strategic planning for social media. Both of these chapters, while not particularly long, are of immense use, providing readers with simple, common sense advice. Steiner's discussion of best practices provides a list of key considerations need for a strategic plan to succeed, while her discussion of emerging trends looks and future projections in social media and encourages readers to monitor the variety of services that are available and to continue seeking user (and non‐user) feedback. Following the final chapter is a brief annotated bibliography of resources that readers may find useful in the process of developing their plan at its different stages. Overall, Steiner has provided readers with a concise and compact starting point to create their own strategic plan for social media within libraries.