Choose Books and More From Re-Designed Library Web Site
I’ve often expressed an enjoyment of browsing—of unhurriedly strolling through the stacks at the Library Center or any of the other nine Springfield-Greene County Libraries, choosing any book that catches my fancy, checking it out and taking it home. Now, I am glad to report, you can browse online at thelibrary.org, very nearly replicating the in-library experience.
You can’t miss the new feature. Right across the top of the new two-column format under the headline, “On the Shelves at the Library,” you’ll see cover art of seven to nine titles in various genres and formats. These are new acquisitions, books that have recently been catalogued and placed on the shelves.
Cursor-browse through the horizontal line of book covers, and here’s the best part, click on any you like. That will take you directly to the library’s catalog where you can easily and quickly reserve the book to pick up at the branch library of your choice.
“Patrons love it already although it’s only been online for a few days,” says Library Center Reference Librarian Lynn Clark. The new home page, which took staff a year or so from the concept stage to complete, is the fourth major re-design in the past 20 years although there have been hundreds of tweaks and updated pages during that time.
To make it easier and more convenient to find the books you prefer to read, the “book shelf” can be rotated among fiction, nonfiction and teens and kids titles. You can also browse through the library’s newest DVDs and CDs, and reserve them for pickup.
Although this new feature is the most dramatic and noticeable change, staff have also improved the site by adding:
- A graphically larger five-time rotating “fader,” where library programs and events are promoted,
- Blog formats for familiar sections such as Library News, Local History, Community Matters and Minding Your Business.
- A deeper, more comprehensive and richer footer divided with sub-listings, The Library, Support the Library, Help, My Account, and graphical buttons for Wi-Fi, Library Foundation and Friends of the Library.
- A rectangular Share button which allows users to post the Library web site to Twitter, Face Book or other social networking site.
Jeanne C. Duffey, community relations director for the Springfield-Greene County Library District, can be reached at jeanned@thelibrary.org.
Find this article at http://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=376&lid=62