Visit the National Libraries Day website here

National Libraries Day is a day devoted to promoting the work of libraries in all sectors, including public, school, academic, business or special collections, as well as being a nationwide celebration of libraries, librarians and library staff.

It is backed by a host of national organisations including the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals, the National Literacy Trust, the Reading Agency, the Women’s Institute and the School Library Association.

Our brief was to produce a strong call to action – a site that would encourage people to organise and join in with local events as well as sharing details of National Library Day through as many social media channels as possible.

It needed to be colourful and engaging with lots of clear signposts showing how people could get involved. The finished site therefore includes a range of interactive features including integration with Twitter and Facebook, a Google map for people to add their events and find out what’s happening near them as well as dedicated YouTube and Flickr pages.

It also uses the BuddyPress community platform to add features such as groups, forums and a way for users to make friends and keep track of their activity.

Onlineability director Lisa Hutchins said: “National Libraries Day is an event very close to our hearts. As people working in an information profession ourselves we know just how under-appreciated librarians and library staff can be.

“They do magnificent work helping people get the information and resources they need and, very often, their work is so seamless and efficient that people don’t notice just how important a contribution they make.

“If we forget to appreciate our libraries and library staff we will lose them. That would be a tragedy for communities all around the UK and so we’re very proud to have been asked to build the National Libraries Day website.”

• If you’re a library user in North Herts or Stevenage, don’t forget to check out We Heart Libraries, a campaign to celebrate and champion the public libraries in our area.

Following our recent project to create a new website for Cornish conservation centre The Screech Owl Sanctuary we are now working on a report into how the third sector is using the web to communicate its message.

We would like to hear from any organisations interested in working with us. We will analyse your web and social media presence, using only information that is already publicly available, and provide you with a report listing what works well and what could work better.

We will then use the findings in our report, which we intend to make freely available to all interested parties on our website, as a resource for voluntary organisations. They will be anonymised – for instance, we might refer to “an east London social care group” or “a Hampshire wildlife charity” rather than giving specific names or locations.

If this sounds interesting, and you’d like to take advantage of it to boost your organisation’s web presence, drop us a line with a contact name and email address (for returning the finished audit) and your website address. Details of any social media networks such as Twitter or Facebook would also be helpful.

Of course there are pitfalls – as companies like Habitat and United Airlines have discovered. But they really are outweighed by the benefits. And forewarned is forearmed so, on this page we set out some secrets for making social media work for you.

Five tips for using social media

1. Offer something of value

Cast your bread upon the waters and it will make its way back to you. People won’t find you interesting, or want to stick with you, if all you do is appeal for their attention or direct them to the same old generic website link. You need to season things with useful tips, insightful observations and items that give your Facebook page or Twitter feed a human face. Your aim is to become indispensable – keep that in mind with everything you post.

2. Keep it regular

Humans are creatures of habit – and they dislike irregularity. Social media works best when used little and often, so don’t post ten tweets and/or Facebook messages all at once on a single day each month and then be surprised when you get little feedback. Posting at a regular time makes also helps you overcome the temptation to waste time online when you need to concentrate your energies elsewhere.

3. Be authentic

This is the single most important piece of advice we can give. Most proficient users of social media have extremely well-developed bullshit detectors. But, more importantly, if you are trying to establish yourself as a member (and eventual leader) of a particular ‘tribe’ – such as a group of sports fans – then you must strike exactly the right tone of voice. You’ll do that best by sticking to what you really know – or delegating effectively. It always works best when there’s an identifiable human being rather than a blank corporate persona.

4. Be friendly

If people want to friend you or follow you, don’t block them off – otherwise you might as well not bother using social media in the first place. Don’t regard other businesses or organisations as competitors to be avoided – they might have something to teach you, and there is always the intriguing possibility of strategic alliances. But this doesn’t mean you have to put up with people who are obvious spammers, using multiple accounts or who clearly have nothing to offer you in return. Be ruthless in blocking/refusing such people.

5. But remember this is work

If you are using social media as the public face of a company, you need to keep that constantly in mind. By all means be human and give your thoughts and observations on appropriate topics. But don’t stray into off-colour humour, inappropriate links or anecdotes that are best reserved for your personal feeds and accounts. If necessary, create a pseudonymous account for your personal stuff. It’s definitely a balancing act – but luckily one that is not too hard to achieve as long as you remember what your purpose is for using social media in the first place.