How to Use Instagram in a High School Library
When I started in my current position, one of the first things I did was start social media accounts for the High School Library. I did check our board policy on social media to make sure that I was in compliance. I decided to start both an Instagram and Twitter account and both are set as professional accounts. When you set your social media platforms as professional accounts, you can look at the business insights, and that’s helpful to see how many patrons I am reaching and what type of posts get the most interaction.
In this post I’m going to focus specifically on Instagram, since this is really where I get the most student engagement.
Like I said, I like looking at the insights so I’m able to see what types of posts get the most likes and comments. It helps to fuel future type on content I want to share.
Types of Posts
I try my best to post at least once a week, but it can definitely be difficult when I get busy in the Library with classes. The more I post, the more engaged I keep students. I like to post about the books I have read, upcoming events that are happening around the school, stories that are shared by other school organizations, and about students or things that happening in our Library. I’ve found that I’ll get the most likes on a post when there are pictures of students in the post. This brings up a very important reminder; please always ask permission before posting your students online and always check to see if they have permission to be posted online. In my High School, the majority of our students are ok to be posted online, but there are a number who would like to not be shared and we keep that list on file.
Another type of post that seem to get them most attention are short videos where, and this may sound silly, but I’m making fun of myself or silly things my students do. I don’t mean rudely making fun of them, but remember, I have high school students who grew up on memes and youtube and they can relate to some friendly jabs.
A few ground rules I have for running my Instagram account are that I only follow other school accounts or other Libraries, never students. I also keep a public profile and I make sure to post education-friendly content.
This year during my freshmen orientation lesson, I gave the students the opportunity to follow my account and it really did help gain some followers. I also incorporated a Goosechase in my freshmen orientation and then took some of the photos they submitted and threw them up on the Instagram and that made students highly engaged with the account. They had to take a #shelfie and sit in some of our new chairs and let me know if they liked them or not.
Giveaways & Contests
When it comes to engaging with students, there is almost no better way than a contest or a giveaway. Every year during the last week or two before Winter break, I run a contest where I hide a stuffed animal in different places around the Library. When students find it, they enter their name in a drawing and at the end of each day I spin a wheel and someone wins a prize. Prizes in the past have been gift cards or treats, but I think just giving away smaller gifts would be just as fun.
This contest began a few years ago when I bought a stuffed gingerbread man at Walmart, had a contest for the students to name him, and began hiding him elf on the shelf style. Since then it’s evolved to be bigger and bigger each year and students often ask when MJ the gingerbread man will reappear. I think someday I may do a bigger post on MJ and how I run this contest, but for now, know that it has been such a fun way to interact with our students!
To wrap up, these are just some of the uses that I’ve found for Instagram in my High School Library. Although it seems that majority of kids are using Snapchat and TikTok for their main social media, Instagram is the best way that I’ve found to connect with other organizations around the school and reach out to students.
Want to give a follow? Please do @mthslibrary
