Social Media Policy

This policy establishes guidelines for the use of The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library (HMCPL) social media sites as a means of engaging with patrons, promoting events and services, and showcasing the Library. The Library's social media sites are not intended to be traditional public forums for the general exchange of ideas and viewpoints, but a limited forum for discussion of Library-related information.

Definition of Social Media:

For the purposes of this policy, "social media" is understood to be electronic communication through which users create or interact in online spaces to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content. Social media includes any webpage or app through which HMCPL has an account and interacts with other users.

Examples of social media include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, and Flickr. For the purposes of this policy, "comments" include information, articles, pictures, videos, or any other form of communicative content posted on an HMCPL social media site.

Posted comments and images do not necessarily represent the views of HMCPL. External, non-HMCPL links on a social media page do not constitute official endorsement on behalf of HMCPL. While we encourage the sharing of thoughts and opinions on the HMCPL’s social media pages, we expect that this will be done in a respectful manner. Please note: a “like,” “comment,” or “share” does not equal an endorsement on behalf of HMCPL. HMCPL does not agree with or endorse every comment that individuals post on our pages. Our goal is to share information and ideas with as many individuals as possible, and our policy is to accept the majority of comments made to our profile. Therefore, a comment may be hidden or deleted if it contains:

  • Hate speech
  • Profanity, obscenity, or vulgarity
  • Nudity in profile pictures
  • Defamation to a person or people
  • Name calling and/or personal attacks
  • Comments whose main purpose is to sell a product
  • Comments that infringe on copyrights
  • Spam comments, such as the same comment posted repeatedly on a profile
  • Comments unrelated to content in the post
  • Other comments that HMCPL deems inappropriate

We understand that social media is a 24/7 medium; however, our moderation capabilities are not. We may not see every inappropriate comment right away, and we trust in the maturity of our community to ignore personal attacks and negative speech or respond politely. In case of an emergency, please dial 911 and contact the appropriate emergency personnel. Please contact feedback@hmcpl.org if you have any questions.

Updated 5/20/2025