Public library Twitter use during the early period of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the Twitter use of public libraries during the early period of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate the focus of Twitter communication. Design/methodology/approach A total of 57 active, public library Twitter accounts were used for data collection and analysis. The tweets examined were a combination of original tweets (n = 1,465) and retweets (n = 516) posted from other Twitter accounts on the public libraries’ Twitter feeds. A content analysis scheme was developed to analyse topical aspects of the tweets. Findings The most frequent tweets were about library events, programmes and activities. However, there was a relatively low focus on sharing community information and addressing information related to the pandemic. The study suggests that public libraries could use Twitter to provide library resources and services to their patrons, whilst also acting as a virtual community centre safely keeping patrons engaged in the face of a global pandemic. By doing so, Twitter could be used as an integral part of promoting the mission of public libraries. Research limitations/implications The study examined a limited number of public libraries’ Twitter posts. Whilst the study carried out a random sampling of 10% of public libraries from the five states that had the highest COVID-19 cases in the month of April 2020, the study only examined tweets of 57 public libraries being active in posting. Thus, the findings of the study are not for generalizing. Practical implications The content scheme includes content types regarding library services and community information. The content category scheme is general to reflect themes of content during a normal time and any emergency. Thus, this framework could be helpful for the content development of public libraries in planning social media use. Originality/value The study used a new content analysis framework to examine both original tweets and retweets for information sharing of library services and community information. The approach of content analysis is distinctive to examine libraries’ communication trends on social media not only in normal times but also in times of crisis as well. The study also incorporated additional measures to assess Twitter practices including hashtags.