Library Staff Directory
Social Media Policy
The Shorewood Public Library utilizes social media in line with the library’s mission to create a welcoming online space to market the library’s resources, programs and services; share community information; to make the library more accessible to patrons; and to promote dialogue between community members and the library.
In this policy, “social media” refers to online or mobile social networking or social sharing platforms open to the public. The Shorewood Public Library uses official social media channels as listed on our website.
The library permits authorized library staff to utilize any social media platform professionally on behalf of the library with permission from the Library Director as long as its use is beneficial for the library in communicating with patrons. Communication by the library via social media is intended to reflect the library’s mission, vision and strategic goals.
The library’s social media pages invite community member comments and content related to the library or library’s posts. The Shorewood Public Library’s social media accounts are strictly limited forums and all users must comply with these terms of use. Users posting to the library’s social media channels grant permission to the library to reuse or share content in promotional materials without compensation or notification. Comments expressed by other users on the library’s social media do not reflect the views or positions of the library, the library board, or library employees. Library social media is monitored during weekday library operating hours; the library may not be able to respond to user content posted outside of these hours.
Comments or postings containing any of the following forms of content may be removed or hidden by the library without prior notice:
• Profane, obscene, or pornographic content and/or language
• Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination based on race, creed, age, religion, gender, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation
• Rude, defamatory or personal attacks
• Threats to any person or organization
• Content that promotes political purposes, candidates or content associated with any candidates for elected office, political parties or ballot proposals
• Solicitation of commerce or Spam, including promotion or advertising for paid services
• Conduct in violation of any federal, state, or local law or encouragement of illegal activity
• Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public
• Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party
• Content posted by a user whose profile picture or username contains any of the aforementioned content.
• Content that is not topically related to posts made by the Library on the Library’s social media sites
Users whose comments or postings on library social media sites fall into one or more of these categories will have their comment or post removed and may be blocked from Shorewood Public Library’s social media accounts for a specified period. The length of the ban will be determined by the Revocation of Library Privileges Guidelines, approved by the Library Board, which takes into consideration the severity and frequency of the violation(s) by the patron in a one-year timeframe. Users who have had comments or posts removed and/or have had privileges revoked may appeal this decision in writing to the Library Director within 15 calendar days of notification. The Library Director will notify the user of their decision within 15 calendar days of receiving the appeal.
Information posted on the Shorewood Public Library’s social media profiles is subject to open records laws, and any content added to Shorewood Public Library’ social media accounts will be archived by the Village of Shorewood in accordance with Wisconsin Open Records Laws. Posts that have been made public and are to be deleted will be saved elsewhere before removal. The library values the privacy of users’ personal information and encourages users to protect their privacy by not posting personally identifying information on library pages.
Questions or concerns about the Shorewood Public Library’s social media policy can be directed to the Virtual Engagement Librarian or the Library Director.
Approved by the Library Board February 9, 2022