Hi Ross, Content calendars and schedules can vary by library by frequency, platforms, community interests and behaviors, and content, just because what works for some may not work for all. The basic idea is to do what makes most sense to you. If that means using a literal printed calendar so everyone can see it, use that. Otherwise, there are several ways to do this online, free or paid. There are all types of collaborative cloud software, apps and such for organizing your content and when to post. I think your focus on Facebook would just mean that maybe you do an audit of what you’ve posted previously over a specified period of time to see what actually gets interaction (engagement, like reacts and comments) versus what your audience doesn’t interact with. You can use Meta insights for this. Once you review that, you can determine if memes, posts with images, posts with pics of people, or videos work best for your audience. There are also different types of content you should consider: informational, fun, people using the library, testimonials, how-to use or do something, readers advisory, program highlights, special announcements, staff or library achievements, and more. You should also review which programs people already know about so you don’t have to invest your time in content creation for them and instead focus on the services, collections, and programs that do need more awareness. For the local news, you’ll most likely want to cater your content to stories that will either people relate to, some kind of problem-solving success story someone experienced using the library, something geared towards your community interests or families, something that sparks curiosity or screams free benefits, or feel-good. It can also be a story about a recent successful program or a new service being added to support the community or in response to someone asking for support in that area. I think one of the hardest things about content creation is going from “use this, it’s available at your library” to “John had this issue, discovered how to answer/solve/work it out by using a resource at the library which led to an incredible outcome,” in which John was the hero in some capacity. I really admire the libraries that are doing this kind of storytelling because it’s promotion indirectly; they’re showing real people or staff using the library somehow but it’s either through a patron experience or through a fun and entertaining story from staff and may not be specifically about the library service itself. I hope this helps you! Katie On Wed, May 20, 2026 at 9:22 AM Tahquamenon Library Director via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Hello Librarians,
Not having a background in public relations, it has been difficult for me to assess what should be prioritized to post, and how often posts need to go out. I am also not sure how much time to devote to this. A content schedule or calendar has been suggested by my Library Advisory Board as a time-saving mechanism.
Does anyone (or your marketing team) have a schedule for things that you post on social media? If so, could you share it? Specifically, our social media is a Facebook page with ~1200 followers. We also have a local newspaper that maintains a decent sized readership in the community.
My Board has also made note that the Library should have a single voice to engage with the public, but at the same time has suggested that I hand off posts to other staff members as needed. Maintaining editorial oversight seems like the simplest way to square that circle, but that seems like it would take up approximately the same amount of time as just making the posts myself. Does anyone have any suggestions on that?
Sorry if I've sent a previous thread about this,
Ross Wine _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org