Please note, this list is just posts that have worked well at other libraries. It may not work for yours, but you now have 30 different post types that you can try and see what resonates with your patrons. If your reach is low, you may also want to try posting at different times and days.
1. Happy Holiday Book Images
Is there any better way to wish a reader happy holidays than with a creative stack of books? Patrons eat them up! Plan ahead and make/find your fun designs long before the holiday.
2. This Message Brought to You by the Library Staff
Don't forget that your staff can be great PR for your library. If they are willing, share pictures of them highlighting your collection or events. The more humorous, the more likely you'll get interactions.
3. Recreate Memes/Jokes with Library Spin
These two creative posts took some time to craft, but we at the 5minlib applaud them with their creativity and library inspirations! It isn't easy to make memes, but they get the point across in a fun way. And the April Fool's Joke, we predict, will be floating around MANY library pages for many April 1sts to come.
4. Visual Changes at the Library
Any visual changes at the library is a great image to post on Facebook, especially the more simple those changes are. If your local newspaper writes an article on it and includes a professional photo, all the better for your Facebook page! (And kudos to you for sharing local content. Your paper will thank you!)
5. Local Weather Pictures
We mentioned in our last post that patrons love local history pictures. Weather pictures also do well, especially if they are outside of your library. It certainly is harder to catch such amazing views, but when you do, your patrons will appreciate the effort!
6. Humor Tied to Current Events
Paying attention to current events can help you with timely posts that'll get a reaction out of your patrons. It can be something as simple as a library spin on an event like the Major League Reading on opening day or it could be a funny post about something everyone is already talking about like Shark Week. (Do note: Videos that are uploaded to Facebook automatically play in people's newsfeed, which instantly increases your reach. Use sparingly as it does eat up people's data usage...)
7. Share Book Lover Inspirations
See something on social media that makes the book lover's heart happy? Share it! Bonus points if it is library related, but anything book related will do.
8. Compare Your Free Services to Paid Alternatives
Patrons love to hear how much money they're saving and the value they're getting when using library services.
9. Highlight Interesting Items To Checkout
Have something unique in your collection? Share it on Facebook! People love to hear about new and interesting things they can check out.
10. Celebrate Milestones
Milestones are important and Facebook monitors the big key words (like "anniversary", "birthday", and "retirement"), showing these posts to more people automatically. People don't want to miss milestones, so capitalize on this Facebook bump!
11. The Human Side of Libraries
Many libraries have had great interaction when they highlight local patrons, sharing their stories and how the library helped them. We matter to the community, people love to hear about it!
12. Quotes about Reading
Support patrons' love of reading by sharing quotes about it. There is no one more excited about February being the love of reading month than readers, and you have a whole audience of them.
13. Behind the Scenes
Patrons have responded well to pictures of things happening behind the scenes, especially when it is staff working hard for their patrons. As we mentioned in #10, using certain words can help your post. The same is true of the opposite. "Sale" has been known to hurt post reach since Facebook has learned people don't want promotional posts. Also be careful of "Join Us", most likely because Facebook wants people to create Events, not posts about upcoming programs.
14. Call to Action
Don't be afraid to include a call to action in your post (asking readers to do something -- like, share, respond...). It doesn't occur to people to share, so statistics show, if you ask people to share, your percentage of sharing will go up.
15. Share Book Lover Products
I wouldn't do if often since we're not in the business of selling products, but every book lover needs a bookshelf and USB Drive, so why not let them know of the fun ones they could buy?
Bonus: CATS!!!
The internet loves cats. Find an article or image that encompasses both? You'll be golden.
Hey, that's me in Number 3. Thanks for representing Yuma in your blog!!
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