Social media provides a key opportunity to positively and effectively communicate with members of our communities. Tools and services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok can be tremendous assets for library instruction, community learning, programming, and many other purposes. With so many tools at our hands, though, it can be easy to become overwhelmed or feel behind the curve.
In this four-week course, library instruction and community relations expert Paul Signorelli provides a guilt- and judgement-free zone designed to help you use social media tools effectively and comfortably. You’ll learn how to incorporate a variety of social media tools into your daily work and, in the process, find ways to better facilitate collaborations within the communities you serve.
While this course will go deep into exploring various social media platforms, it is designed to accommodate complete beginners as well as those familiar with some of the platforms and tools the course will explore.
By completing this course, you will learn how to:
- Engage in several social media tools that are frequently used in library environments
- Use social media for learning, marketing, and community engagement
- Facilitate your own explorations of social media long after the course ends
Paul Signorelli has nearly 30 years of experience working for libraries and other learning organizations. As Director of Staff Training (six years) and Volunteer Services (14 years) for the San Francisco Public Library, he created, implemented, and managed numerous training plans. As a consultant working with the California Library Association, he is serving as Library Advocacy Training Project Manager. And, as a writer-trainer-presenter-consultant, he explores, writes about, and helps others become familiar with successfully moving from onsite to online- and blended-learning environments as well as building and sustaining online communities and collaborations to nurture positive change. He earned his MLIS from the University of North Texas; is active at a variety of levels in the American Library Association, Arizona State University’s ShapingEDU community, and Association for Talent Development (formerly ASTD); and blogs at “Building Creative Bridges” and ShapingEDU’s “Reshaping Learning” blog. Paul is the author of Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield, January 2021) and co-author of Workplace Learning and Leadership (ALA Editions, 2011)
