Detroit Public Library and Currier Museum of Art

In 2013, the Getty had the privilege of hosting Vermeer’s Lady in Blue, and the social media staff there created an excellent way to bring the community together around the painting. Said woman in blue is clutching a letter, and the Getty posted on their social media prompts to get people thinking about what exactly was written in this letter, in a well thought out attempt to get people to engage with the piece, not just retweet a high quality digital photograph of it. Followers on social media sent in what they thought the first line of the letter read, and the responses ranged from the mundane to the eccentric, and were set anywhere from the 1600’s into the future. The Getty’s creativity in interacting with their digital community attracted the attention of socialmediatoday.com’s Edward Boches, who praised the initiative of the museum in this article. He includes several tips at the bottom, which I found extremely helpful when I began my investigation of social media use.

·         Know your users and invent something they will want to engage

·         Stop using social media as an ad medium

·         Integrate all of the platforms [i.e. blog, twitter, facebook, don’t make them all mutually exclusive]

·         Make this kind of engagement part of your brand behavior

·         Re-think your metrics

Throughout the article, he also pushed one point repeatedly – we think we are being social by posting pictures and using clever lines, but we’re not interacting with our communities. There needs to be a measure of deeper conversation and discussion, and LAM institutions need to stop measuring their social media success by ticket sales alone. Boches suggests that we take a look at the media coverage of these outreach projects, and look at what is being spread by word of mouth to gage just how successfully we’re interacting with out broader communities, and making them a regular part of our institutions.

                All of that being said, I decided that I wanted to explore the social media use of the Detroit Public Library system and the Currier Art Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire to see if they employ any of Boches’ suggestions.

                The mission statement of the Detroit Public Library.

The Detroit Public Library enhances the quality of life for the diverse and dynamic community in the City of Detroit. The library enlightens and empowers its citizens to meet their lifelong learning needs through open and equitable access to information, technology, and cultural/educational programs. The Detroit Public Library system will provide easy access to local and global information that will assist all users in the development of a lifetime of enrichment and growth.

As the Library moves into the future, it will hold on to the best of its services while meeting changing community needs. The community will recognize the library as a vital force for expanding the mind, promoting literacy, embracing diversity, creating opportunities for individual and community development, and building a thriving city.

The Detroit Public Library system uses the following social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube. Every August for the last nine years, the DPL has held “ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day” featuring a bounce house, free books for children and adults, Italian ice, and music. ARISE Detroit is a non-profit company whose mission is to, “launch a new wave of volunteerism for the many worthwhile programs and activities that are struggling with the issues that trouble our community – illiteracy, high school dropout rates, crime and youth violence, drug abuse, domestic abuse, neighborhood blight and unemployment”. ARISE is an acronym for Activating Resources and Inspiring Service and Empowerment. The DPL advertises the Neighborhoods Day on Facebooks, Twitter, and YouTube. The DPL also collaborates with Underground Resistance and Submerge Detroit to present Crash Discourse, a series of lectures at the main branch of the library; the lectures highlight the progressive musicians coming out of the motor city. The goal of these talks is represented in Crash Discourse’s three word slogan – Music. Culture. Conversation. To RSVP to these events is free through Eventbright, and past artists include Detroit Techno Militia, Juan Atkins, and Beretta Music. In 2014, Automation Alley held a 42-hour hackathon called Hack DPL, with teams competing to build an app for the Detroit Public Library System for a $5,000 prize. Two students won the prize, and the Detroit Public Library now has a fully functioning app for smart phones and tablet devices, called “Detroit Public Library Mobile” offered through Libstack.

                The YouTube page for the Detroit Public Library has only 33 videos, uploaded over the last four years, documenting the Detroit Reads Flash Mob, the student mural projects in the library, and a visit from the Smithsonian as part of the Save Our African American Treasures tour. Videos also feature the Detroit Public Library Choir. On March 19, 2015 the DPL celebrated 150 years in Detroit with a black tie event that supported the Children Who Can Read Succeed initiative. In January of 2016, the Detroit Tigers even popped by to give the library a special number 150 jersey. In March 2016, the DPL held a Cat in a Hat themed birthday party for Dr. Seuss. And, because mundane things like libraries and museums are somehow much more interesting after hours, the DPL offers tours of the main library at night. The DPL also partners with the organization Reading Works for their Detroit Reads initiative, with the goal of eradicating the problem of illiteracy in Detroit.

                I think that the DPL has an outstanding selection of social programs. Their social media is unified in content, but not always word for word. They don’t maintain a steady stream of updates and retweets, and why would they? Their focus, and the goal of a huge number of their social media postings, is to help their community with what they need. And recently, they haven’t needed Vermeer’s Lady in Blue activities, they have needed literacy programs, and days where you can go meet with an attorney for free to talk about your child support case. They need a chance to go see Brad Ausmus roll through the local branch of the library, and see a celebrated home team give their time back to the community and through the library. I am reminded so much of the library in Ferguson that remained open and gave refuge during the protests and riots. The DPL is working to not only engage their community, but to meet their needs, and to understand that on a very basic level, reading will never be a priority until the most basic of needs are met, and they are working towards becoming a safe communal space, where people can discuss racial tensions and receive real feedback from New York Times bestselling authors, but also from other people in the community.  

                The Currier Art Museum in New Hampshire uses Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. The mission statement from their website [http://www.currier.org/about/] is as follows.

The Currier Museum of Art is committed to providing stimulating, diverse and enjoyable encounters with original works of art and, in doing so, hopes to inspire the hearts, minds and imagination of its members and visitors. The museum provides the public with opportunities to learn about the past, appreciate and evaluate the present, and contemplate the future.

The Currier brings to its fundamental mission exceptional holdings of art and architecture, primarily American and European. The Museum is dedicated to high standards of exhibition, preservation, research, interpretation and enhancement of this collection. Cultural and educational programs of high quality and often national significance are offered.

The Currier is determined to serve all age groups and a culturally varied audience from New Hampshire and the surrounding region. The Museum aims to be a leader in developing innovative learning experiences that increase people’s understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the arts and humanities. The Currier’s vitality depends upon its responsiveness to changes in the arts and in society while maintaining a sound financial base on which to expand its activities.

September 9, 1994

The mission statement has not been updated since 1994, and thus has not revised the details on how to expand the ‘innovative learning experiences’ to include social media and other vices of the digital age.  A large portion of their social media postings are falling into what Boches calls ‘the ad medium’. They are exhaustively advertising their exhibitions, with little attention to any other goings-on in the community that they profess to serve. All that being said, they are advertising the exhibitions well. They post reviews, interviews with the archivist Meghan Petersen, and even posts about Shakespearian insults to foster a broader interest in their First Folio exhibition. The museum also features the Frank Lloyd-Wright designed Zimmerman House, which can be visited on guided tours only for $20/person. Their Instagram account is filled with photos catering to every kind of weather [It’s snowy in Manchester today, come celebrate with snow-themed artwork at the Currier!], staff photos to other museums’ exhibitions, and art works of the day, including beautiful glass artwork. The Museum holds Storytime in the Gallery once a month as one of their family programs aimed at the youngsters, intended to engage them with an art-related story, and then let them create their own artwork. The Art Center also holds art camps for kids during the summer, winter, and spring breaks.

                In conjunction with their exhibit Killer Heels: the Art of the High Heeled Shoe, the Currier teamed up with Webster Elementary School for a shoe-drive to help provide children with the appropriate footwear to combat the winter weather. The drive was organized by Lynn Thomson, the manager of family and community engagement at the Museum, however, I was only able to locate one Facebook post about the drive. The Art Center also schedules four week Artworks! classes in schools for students who cannot afford or are unable to take classes in the Art Center.

                The Currier periodically holds a free Alzheimer’s Café, where those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia can come with their families and enjoy the artwork in what the museum refers to as a ‘safe environment’. This is definitely a step towards progress, but it could also been construed as singling out these individuals, and assuming that they’re rendered incapable of appreciating and discussing art in a general public setting. I am surprised that the Museum risked facing that kind of criticism in order to hold the event, but it goes to show that they are trying to reach portions of the population who are often left out during the outreach process. Their Pinterest page is absolutely fabulous. Their boards include Black and White Party Time, Humankind’s Best Friend, Art-Inspired Food, Saints & Angels, and Body Language. Some of them are from the Currier’s Online Collections, and others are gathered from around the web to give new spice to categories or topics people no don’t typically consider interesting.