Changing needs, changing roles: social media, libraries and communities in high-tech age

1. CHANGINGNEED,
CHANGINGROLES:
SOCIALMEDIA,
LIBRARIESAND
COMMUNITIES
IN HIGH-TECHAGE
By Cristina Bambini Tatiana WakefieldLondon
Eurolis 2015

2. Changing people’s experience
about libraries’ products and
services
From push to pull
We are moving from computing to
communication

3. Library users are costumers who:
- demand
- choose
- select
They want answers not
noisy-information

4. The role of the librarians is not
just to listen to those who come
forward but to seek out and
develop the communication
channels that make it certain
that user will get a response in
library operations

5. Making connections
Numbers are not
primary considerations

6. Simply using the tool
to proclaim
“Come to our library’s cool
program!” won’t fly online!
Social media is not a one-way
broadcast

7. Community
a place where various
people communicate
and
interact with one
another

8. Many libraries do not understand
that using social media take more
than having an account
Social media
is a stategygame

9. Social media is a long term
process of building
relationships with individuals
It’s about creating
personalized connection
that actually allow dialogue
between library and its
patrons

10. We sho uld e xpe ct m o re than sim ply
be ing co nsum e rs o r use rs o f the
library; we sho uld e xpe ct to be
m e m be rs – he lping the shape the
library itse lf.
Librarie s ne e d to be “o f the
co m m unity”, no t sim ply “fo r the
co m m unity”
(R. David Lankes)

11. Branding is more than
just an account
It’s creating an
emotional connection
between the library and
its community
Social accounts are
part of who we are

12. If yo u do n’t m ake a de cisio n,
o ne willbe m ade fo r yo u
Be human, spend time
listening and talking
to others

13. What is the situation in Italy?
How are Italian Libriaries
using Social Media?

14. Libraries and its users
communicate as equals, putting at
the centre of the communication
process the relationship
Emotions
Sense of belonging
Openness

15. Content
from events to activities and
service informations

16. Categorizecontents
RBBC
SalaBorsa
SBV in Tasca
Sistema Bibliotecario Milano

17. “Emotional”aspect
Nati Per Leggere
San Giorgio

18. The library can become a place of
participation, sharing and exchange, social
inclusion, serving as a physical space to
provide knowledge, languages and cultures,
but also as a place of (re)-construction of the
citizenship; a social and cultural centre
capable of using a critical and active digital
media universe and the network as a means
and never as an end

19. Social networks could serve as
a “sounding board” to broaden
the visibility of library services
as well as library activities

20. Thank you to Eurolis staff, the
French Institute that hosted us
and the Istituto Italiano di
Cultura in London