Conclusion
By conducting an online survey targeting public libraries in the USA, this study made several contributions to the literature and the library field, particularly the public library field. First, this study identified the types and popularity of social media tools employed in public libraries for marketing purposes. Consistent with some recent studies (e.g. Boateng and Liu, 2014; Chu and Du, 2013) and the current trend, popular social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest were found to be the most widely employed in public libraries. Unsurprisingly, we also found that the number of social media tools used is positively associated with library service population. Second, this study determined a range of challenges and motivators to implementing social media for library marketing, which public libraries can consult when employing social media in their libraries. As already pointed out by several existing studies (e.g. Chu and Du, 2013; Jones and Harvey, 2016; Rutherford, 2008b), a lack of staff resources, skills, and expertise (C4, 5, and 9) were found to be the most critical challenges public libraries faced when adopting social media. Interestingly, however, the factors related to library culture and staff acceptance (C10, 3, and 1) were no longer perceived to be a critical challenge by public librarians. When asked if they could think of any other challenges, the majority of the comments reiterated a lack of staff resources, skills, and expertise (C4, 5, and 9) as the major barriers. A few newly identified challenges from the open-ended question include the controls by upper administration, system issues, and a lack of user engagement.
