The City Library website, designed and built by Rain, will be featured as Communication Arts Web Pick of the Week beginning Friday June 10!
“Webpicks features outstanding examples of Web design selected based on a combination of superior aesthetics, technical expertise, functionality and overall site experience.” (commarts.com)
The City Library site was designed to encourage the exploration of new ideas, facilitate conversations between members of the community, enhance the dialog via local engaging content, and inspire through easy access to information and resources.
Some of the site’s core features include:
The Soap Box: Found in the Community Section, the Soap Box opens discussions of issues important to the Salt Lake City community. Videos introducing a variety of topics by subject experts will be posted, with a space for users to respond, add new information, share their views, and exchange ideas. The first Soap Box video is presented by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker on sustainability.
Weekly Q’s: Weekly questions on a range of silly and serious topics — from how our community works to what makes Salt Lake unique — are presented by library staff, engaging users to respond and connect. The archive of answers will create a wealth of local information that documents the pulse of Salt Lake City.
The SL Scene: In the Teens section, The SL Scene is a place to spark teens’ creativity, allowing them to document their world, and share their experiences. Teens will submit pictures, videos, and writing on topics like music, activism, fashion, cars, and more. Over time, the SL Scene will become a repository of teen life in Salt Lake City, a time capsule of what inspires and concerns our young and vibrant minds.
MyEasel: MyEasel is a collage-making web application found in the Kids section of the site. The City Library will call kids to create new pictures of various things that are relevant to their day-to-day lives and allow them to save their creations to share with friends and family.
CoverFlow: CoverFlow widgets on the Teen, Kids, and Collections pages give users an entirely new opportunity to interact with The City Library’s collection. With lists of books, movies, music, graphic novels, and more curated by City Library staff, everyone can encounter something new and find recommendations for items in the catalog.
Since the launch in early April the site has received approximately 120,000 visitors, and the library is enthusiastic about the activity they are seeing. The site is also catching the attention of other libraries, and is a bold step toward the future of librarianship.
Check out the City Library!