Hot off the press! “Mastering Mobile through Social Media: Creating Engaging Content on Instagram and Snapchat”

Greetings! I'm excited to announce my new report for the American Library Association's Library Technology Reports series: "Mastering Mobile through Social Media: Creating Engaging Content on Instagram and Snapchat." What I really dig about this work is that I had the opportunity to conduct a mini-case study during which I interviewed 11 standout library professionals …

Snapchat Explained: A 30 Minute Microlearning Event

Hello! I just wanted to announce another Snapchat workshop that I'll be teaching in September for ALA's eLearning series. This will consist of a 30 min online webinar where I'll show you the basics of Snapchat: how it works, how to set it up, and how your library can use it. This is perfect for …

6 Libraries to Follow on Snapchat for Some Snapspiration

In 2015 I wrote the post 5 Universities Killing it on Snapchat. Since then, I have seen a of bevy brands harnessing the app in really creative ways. Coming from a library background, I naturally follow several libraries on Snapchat (see Libraries on Snapchat: A Directory for a comprehensive list) and I have been really impressed …

New Session: Using Snapchat to Reach Library Patrons Workshop

Hello! I just wanted to send you all a quick note to let you know I'll be teaching a Snapchat workshop for the ALA's eLearning series. "Using Snapchat to Reach Library Patrons" will consist of two 90-minute sessions that will take place on Thursday, April 12, 2018 and Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 2:30pm Eastern. If …

Upcoming Workshop: Using Snapchat to Reach Library Patrons

Hello! I just wanted to send you all a quick note to let you know I'll be teaching a Snapchat workshop for the ALA's eLearning series. "Using Snapchat to Reach Library Patrons" will consist of two 90-minute sessions that will take place on August 24th and 31st at 1:30 Central. If you have any questions or …

Snapchat in the Library: Librarians Master an App to Reach Millennials- ALA Extended Article Version

Hello! I am very excited to announce my newest article that was published in ALA's magazine: Snapchat in the Library Librarians: Master an App to Reach Millennials! For this article I had the opportunity to interview a variety of amazing librarians who are leveraging this app to reach their patrons. Librarians from K-12, public libraries, and …

Libraries on Snapchat: A Directory

Hello! A lot of you have reached out asking for a list of libraries on Snapchat. Due to the fact that you can't search Snapchat the way you can other social media platforms, this task is a little tough. What I thought I'd do is create a crowdsourced directory. I have started a list of libraries …

5 Universities Killing It On Snapchat

I am becoming convinced that Snapchat should become a library social media staple. Being a "cusper" (on the tail end of the millennial generation) I might not be as in-tune with what's fresh in social as my younger counterparts, but the numbers don't lie. Smith, from DMR, reports that Snapchat not only touts 100 million …

Promote Your Library Using Mark Zuckerburg’s Worldwide Book Club

Facebook's Mark Zuckerburg launched the New Year by announcing a challenge: "to read a new book every other week -- with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories, and technologies." His announcement has currently garnered 119,199 likes and 5,502 comments.   Since then he has created a Facebook group entitled "A Year of …

Promote Your Library With Snapchat Stories

This is probably the best way libraries can start implementing Snapchat for promotional purposes. According to an article published today by Business Insider, Snapchat Stories has increased 100% with over 1 billion stories being viewed a day! Since this app is so widely used by individuals under the age of 25 (traditional college aged students), it's a …

How to Create a Snapchat Contest

In the beginning of January I started hearing a lot of buzz about the privacy chat app Snapchat. From NPR to Mashable, everyone was discussing this new app. One fortuidious morning, during my daily Feedly perusal, I saw articles by both TechCrunch and Mashable reporting on a study that found that over 77% of college students use Snapchat every …

Top Libraries for Academic Libraries to Follow on Pinterest: Part Deux

I wrote the Top 10 Libraries for Academic Libraries to Follow on Pinterest back in 2013, but with so many new boards popping up I thought I'd add to the list (as a side note I noticed just about every library has either a Downton Abbey or cat-related board!). I used the same criteria: Post quality content …

Get the Most Out of Your Graphic Design Team by Using These Tools

I was venting to a friend of mine the other day about not being able to articulate what I want to the graphic designers I work with. I explained that often I have the idea of what I want, but have difficulty expressing that thought semantically. Other times I have no idea what I want, …

Snapchat For Your Library

Snapchat has been getting a lot of buzz as of late (Facebook offered to purchase it for $3 billion, but was turned down). It is currently valued at about $4 billion, and I think it will be the social media application of 2014 (here's an interesting story of why teens use Snapchat by npr). What …

How Libraries are Doing Pinterest Wrong

Ok, I admit it I am one of the 71% of women on Pinterest. I use it to get travel, culinary, decorating inspiration and I pin whenever I find something awesome I want to remember later. I also pin for my library, but unlike my personal Pinterest account, my library account is much different. I …

Tips for Using Piktochart

Being a visual learner myself, I am a huge fan of infographics.  They have gotten so popular that it seems like you can't scroll down a Pinterest/Tumblr/Facebook feed without seeing at least one plastered on your screen. With their rising popularity has come the prevalence of infographic generators. These handy tools are great for those …

Mashies Finalists for Library Promotion Inspiration- Part 3

Please view past posts for more background: Mashies Finalists for Library Promotion Inspiration Part 1 and Mashies Finalists for Library Promotion Inspiration Part 2 In my first post I stated that I was going to create library ideas based on each nominee for every category each day. This has proven to be a bit too time consuming so …

Mashies Finalists for Library Promotion Inspiration- Part 2

In yesterday's post I discussed sharing my library tips/ideas based on the top three finalists in each Mashies awards category.  The Mashies celebrate the best in marketing. Since these companies are highly skilled in what they do I think it only makes sense to learn from their genius. Today I am taking on the category oooof: …

Mashies Finalists- A Great Way to Glean Information for Amazing Library Promotion

Yesterday Mashable announced their finalists for the 2013 Mashies awards. The Mashies awards celebrate the best in digital marketing, advertising and social media. The finalists were selected by a panel of experts and include categories like Best Use of Twitter  and Best Branded App.  In my opinion librarians can learn a lot from events that …

Best Contests for Pinterest

Looking for a way to engage your patrons/customers/students? How about a Pinterest contest?! Pinterest contests can be a great way to engage your audience as well as sneak in digital literacy skill development that is fun and exciting to learn! I have been scouring the interweb to curate a list of past and present Pinterest …