Examining strategies for integration of social media in library services at Jinja public library

Abstract

The study aimed at coming up with strategies for integration of social media in provision of library services at Jinja public library. The objectives of the project were to; To examine possible strategies of incorporating social media in library service provision, to examine the relationship between social media tools and their application in library services, to examine the support for the adoption of social media from the user community, to find out the various forms of services offered using social media at Jinja Public Library. The study adopted a case study design while adopting both qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection. Interview, questionnaire observation and document review were the methods used for data collection. The study used sampling method to select 60 respondents who participated in the study The library services offered by Jinja Public Library were circulation services, library orientation, current awareness services, reference services, reading space. The librarians also use face to face interaction with the library users to update them about the library operations occurring, there is also use of notice boards and one social media platform which is the Facebook page for Jinja Public Library. The challenges faced in delivery of the library services were; inadequate information materials, small reading room, inadequate funds, inadequate storage space and low turn up of library users. The strategies to integrate social media in the provision of library services were, ensuring that there is quality assurance, use of social media tools like Facebook, twitter, tumblr, Flickr, provision of internet and computers in the library. The recommendations for the study were; increase the use of internet in the library because it’s the only way users can have access to the social media tools.