Final Project ~ Interview Results

Hello All,

As mentioned before I contacted all the facebook pages I was following in order to invite them to share their experience with me via some open ended guiding questions.  The two librarians responded that they would like to participate but as of right now I have only received answers to part of the question sheet from the GL.  Since the deadline is coming near I will discuss the responses I have gotten and then include any others that come in on Wed before noon.

The Green Librarian

1.  What do you think the primary use of your facebook page is? For example: to advertise events, discuss library programs, to answer reference questions or other use unique to your library.

I set up the page to advertise events for the library’s Sustainability Month in October, but also to raise awareness of events related to sustainability and green living throughout the region.  The page was really a reaction to the meager response we were getting by publicizing events in the local newspaper.  I thought that if I could capture the interest of people who were interested in “Green Living.”  I would have a built in audience for the events that we plan for the month of October.

As we can see the GL created the facebook page for a specific purpose to build an audience for their sustainability month.  However, it is clear that the page has lasted much beyond October.  Furthermore, the page was created in response to patrons who were showing interest via their events publications in the local newspaper.  Placing patrons at the center of why a facebook page is created is an important component in predicting success.  Although there are only 40 fans, they show activity through comments and posting likes and dislikes.

2.  What types of posts or actions get the most comments or interactions from users?

News directly out of the local community.  I get face to face feedback from links and stories of interest from the regional/national media, but local news gets the best response on FB

As I mentioned in the previous post on what seems to be working posts about local interests and activities seemed to get the most feedback.  GL reinforces this as he states that local news is most well responded to on facebook.

3.  Do you think that upkeep of a facebook page is an efficient way to use your time as a librarian?

It does seem daunting and time-consuming to someone who is new to facebook.  Now that I am familiar with the website, it takes me a few minutes every day to check to make sure there has been nothing malicious posted to the page.  If I note an interesting regional event or see an interesting story in a periodical or a book that we recently added to the library it doesn’t take much time to compose a relevant post for the page.  Because of the space constraints, I think that you need to have some ability as an editor in order to write a post that summarizes the most interesting and important information for those who won’t follow the link.

It seems that librarians shouldn’t be too concerned with wasting time.  GL seems to feel that his facebook page management only takes a short time.  What I think is interesting is that he expresses a need for the writer of the post to be succinct and able to catch the readers attention.  He recognizes that not all patrons will following the link to see the full story.

Many thanks to the GL who took the time to answer some of my questions and gave permission to have his responses posted online!

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