Social Media Policy

Issued: 1/26/2012
Updated: 8/16/2024

Mission:

The mission of Monterey County Free Libraries is to bring ideas, inspiration, information and enjoyment to our community.

Background:

MCFL recognizes the value of social media to increase MCFL’s visibility, and to further its mission. Listed below are the primary goals of MCFL’s social media:

Public relations and diversified outreach
Increased opportunity to receive community input
New opportunities to build partnerships
Improved branding

Policy Statement:

This policy defines the appropriate use and engagement of social media and/or social networking by Monterey County Free Libraries (MCFL) and is under the umbrella of the larger “Social Media Policy and Style Guide” for the County of Monterey.

All use of social media shall be consistent with MCFL’s mission and vision statements. As such, the use of social media will focus on library and county related activities and topics that MCFL is discussing or promoting. All use of MCFL’s social media must be appropriate for viewing by people of all ages.

MCFL’s presence on social media sites are an extension of MCFL and are governed by MCFL’s policies including, but not limited to, email, internet usage, and computer use policies. The creation of a social media site for MCFL must be approved by the County Librarian or a designee.

MCFL will encourage members of the public to interact with MCFL’s social media sites to comment on or post items related to the library related activities and topics that MCFL is discussing or promoting. MCFL staff will review these posts on an on-going basis for relevance and/or appropriateness.

Acceptable forms of content that may be posted on MCFL’s social media include, but are not limited to:

Text
Graphics
Links (URLs)
Video and photographs
- Staff will ensure that these do not include sensitive information in the foreground or background.
- Photo releases will be obtained and provided as needed for marketing

Posts that are deemed inappropriate for any reason will be reviewed and reported to the County Communications Director. Examples of writing or images that are strictly prohibited include, but are not limited to, the following:

Obscene, threatening, discriminatory, harassing, slanderous, hate or off-topic posts
Plagiarized or unauthorized copyrighted materials
Soliciting of personal services or commercial advertisements
Any illegal information or activities
Personal or private information like e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc.
Political activities except library related informational items posted by MCFL staff
Anything that violates MCFL’s policies and procedures
Items that are determined to be in conflict with MCFL’s mission and vision statements or are detrimental to MCFL’s ability to do business

Postings of this type will be investigated, and follow-up action may be taken as deemed appropriate by library administration and County Counsel, including, but not limited to, blocking the poster from further use, reporting the user to the service providers or law-enforcement authorities.

By using MCFL’s social media sites, users are agreeing to these policies.

Reservation of Rights:

MCFL administration, or its designated representative, reserves the right to report or remove submissions that are deemed inappropriate. This policy will be updated as necessary to reflect changing technology, popular practices, or the needs of the organization.

Procedure:

Social media moderator(s) will be appointed to manage MCFL’s social media accounts and ensure the appropriateness of content.

Social media team members are MCFL employees and will perform the following tasks:

Maintain and update the social media sites on a regular basis
Understand the scope of responsibility and be appropriately knowledgeable and/or trained to interact on behalf of the organization
Be familiar with MCFL policies
When questions arise regarding removal of content, they will refer the matter to the County Librarian, County Communication Director or County Counsel for a final decision