A recent makeover to the River Forest Public Library’s website aims to better meet patrons’ digital and information needs.
“It was a total redesign, a total change,” said Margaret Banerji, the library’s manager of virtual services.
The library’s former site was 6 years old and “had served its time,” Banerji said. With the push toward virtual services, the site was no longer functional as it didn’t work with the library’s external partners.
The library worked with Chicago-based New Nine Media, spending just under $13,000 on the redesign that produced a colorful, mobile-friendly website that highlights services patrons use most, Banerji said.
The process for redesigning the site began last fall, and New Nine began building it in February; it launched May 12.
Banerji, Fran Arnold, the library’s marketing and public relations associate, and Beth Kirchenberg, teen services librarian and webmaster, made up the three-person team that worked with New Nine Media on the project.
“I think they would probably say we were more hands-on than others they’ve worked with,” Banerji said with a laugh.
Instead of the website being a dump for information, Banerji said they wanted to focus on the things that people use most often and make them easy to find.
Account and catalog access, the calendar featuring library programming and the digital portal were the features Banerji said they wanted to make most accessible. Banner alerts regarding library closings or other urgent information were an important website addition as well, Arnold said.
“We have a lot of information to showcase, and we want to make sure people have access to it,” Arnold said.
Another critical aspect of the redesign was ease of use for library staff, Banerji said. Because the library doesn’t have a full-time IT staffer or webmaster, the site needed to be simple for librarians to make changes to.
Banerji said the transition was smooth, and feedback has been positive thus far.
“So far, so good,” she said.
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For more information, visit www.riverforestlibrary.org.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.