LIBR 246-04/13 Web 2.0 (Spring 2010)

Initially I was so excited by the online presence of other libraries that we have studied so far, that I wanted to critique an example of one that I felt was doing everything right. However, I realized that a better use of my analysis would be to review my local library to see what they are doing right, and where they can improve.

The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) was established in 1872 and  serves the city of Los Angeles,  which they claim is “the most diverse population in the U.S.” The library system is comprised of Central Library, eight regional branches, and 63 community branches in various neighborhoods. The LAPL ‘s collection spans over 6.2 million volumes, 120 online databases, 10,000 e-books, 2,300 audio books, 1,200 videos, and 350 music titles. The LAPL Central Library, originally opened in 1926, was renovated and expanded in 1993, and is the third largest in the nation. In addition to government funds, LAPL is supported by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, founded in 1992, which raises $5 million annually and branch Friends of the Library groups (Los Angeles Public Library, 2007).  In the 2007-2008 fiscal year, LAPL saw over 18 million visitors to their 72 libraries and 119 million web hits.  In addition to the standard OPAC interface, the LAPL.org  website features interfaces specific for Spanish-speakers, young adults (Teen Web), children (Kids Path), and adult literacy services. Upon first glance the LAPL seems quite impressive. That opinion changes when you realize that they are far from being a library 2.0 leader.

From the LAPL website, you can access the four feeds by hovering over “eMedia” on the sidebar and selecting either: “LAPL Podcasts” or “LAPL Videos at FORA.tv”.

The Los Angeles Public Library features three podcasts:

1. ALOUD Podcasts: A monthly series of talks and performance from a wide variety of subject matters is available for either individual download, or by subscribing to the series through iTunes or the RSS feed. Topics covered are:

• Arts/Entertainment
• Business/Tech
• California/The West
• Fiction/Lit
• History/Bio
• Religion/Spirituality
• Science/Nature
• Social Science/Politics

2. Children’s Podcasts: Currently 18 readings of children’s books by their authors are available, as well as 6 interview podcasts. There is a tab for “Young Adults” with no material available.

3. Richard Neutra, Architect: Sketches and Drawings Exhibition Podcasts: A small collection of four-minute interviews with six different individuals discussing the architect’s life and work.

FORA.tv: Features 26 videos of the ALOUD series, also available for individual download or through an RSS feed.

However there is no additional navigation provided to these resources in the main window. In fact, once you are on the podcast page, the additional menu items disappear from the sidebar. If you click directly on the "eMedia" link, you are taken to the eMedia Home Page featuring audiobooks, e-books, and videos, but no podcasts or their links are to be found. Highlighting “Library Resources” from the sidebar gives the option of “Web Links” but once one is redirected there are simply links to lists of search engines or links by category. There are no blogs, or other RSS feeds available for through the main website for a 72 branch system. No links to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or YouTube are posted for the Los Angeles Public Library.

These resources do actually exist! The problem? A patron has to hunt them down on their own. Currently, the LAPL utilizes the following forms of social software if you perform your own search on each of the social networks:

Facebook: The Los Angeles Public Library has only fourteen postings on their Facebook wall. There are fifteen photo albums, one note listing their presence on TripAdvisor. In the “Events” tab, 13 events are listed from October 2008 through November 2009. There is absolutely no consistency in these, since the majority of the postings on the wall could also have been posted as events. This in turn might have led to fans submitting checking in to RSVP and spreading the word to others. The “Boxes” section is redundant including events and notes, which are already represented with their own tab. This section also lists one review and one favorite page listed. Facebook seems to be the one location that they are focusing their future efforts. The page features 12 videos, including additional ones that are not on the YouTube or MySpace page. The LAPL Facebook page still has a lot of improvements that can be made. Though, with 1,246 fans they are doing pretty well considering there is no link to Facebook from their main website.

MySpace: The LAPL MySpace account only has 29 friends. The last blog entry was a computer class announcement from June 25, 2009 and their last status update was on October 16, 2007 (mood: happy). The page does seem to have been updated on their last login on February 25, 2010, when the March 2010 dates for the digital bookmobile were added.  I'm not certain if they know the MySpace audience since one of the items listed is:"Hey Kids! For exclusively kids' stuff, you can always go to the library's Kids' Path pages." Their shout out to teens is appropriate, however speaking directly to the under 12 set on MySpace is not reaching out to its key demographic. What I did like is that they have an OPAC search form integrated into their blurbs, though this does not stand out as there is no formatting separating one thing from the next. MySpace does include a video "Why I Like TeenScape" in their playlist of seven videos, though none of the clips are very well produced and I can't imagine a teen sitting through the entire 4:38 minutes of talking heads being interviewed. 

Twitter: The Los Angeles Public Library has been using Twitter since April 20, 2009 and has 542 followers. Covering Central library and the various branches, their tweets are mostly event listings, a few general announcements, and photos via TweetPic. The last entry came tonight after the Oscars, however: "Kathryn Bigelow is Queen of the World! Sorry, couldn't resist. Congrats!"

YouTube: The LAPLTV YouTube account was created almost a year ago, and there are only seven videos which have been uploaded. Four of these were uploaded 11 months ago, and one video has been posted monthly during the past November, December, and January. The most resent video is from the Arroyo Seco branch library's  "Word Thirst" Poetry Night. All but three of these shows seem to be clips from a larger program called "LA This Week".

They are falling short in the integration of these online marketing efforts. Bottom line: if nobody knows that these services exist, nobody will use them. If it were not for taking this course, I would never have hunted down these various resources and therefore, subscribed. Their branding efforts are fairly consistent on the web site, and that is simply because they are isolated from their other web presences. This makes them pale in comparison to the New York Public Library, for example which has all of their external online networks easy to find by way of their website with their "Connect to NYPL" link on the home page. If I were hired as a social media marketing consultant, this is the first step I would suggest. They must make their presence known first and foremost before further developing their accounts with social software partners. They must also think out-of-the-box and not simply settle for the defaults presented by Facebook or Twitter. Some quick and easy suggestions would be to create a custom background for their Twitter home page, and add some additional library-themed applications to their Facebook page. In a town which is synonymous with entertainment, they could easily (and cheaply) reach out to film students to enhance the production value for the YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace videos. The LAPL must not be timid. It's time to jump into the Web 2.0 waters just like their contemporaries. The Los Angeles Public Library greatly needs to publicize their social networking efforts, and it starts with the simple step of posting their links on the library home page.