PORT TOWNSEND — A redesigned web site for the Port Townsend Library will deliver more services to patrons while simplifying their choices, staff members say.
“Libraries haven’t really changed in 100 years,” said Theresa Percy, library director.
“But in the past few years, a whole new range of services have become available.”
The new site, www.ptpubliclibrary.org, is due to go live this afternoon, after which time anyone typing the old address, www.cityofpt.us/library, will be rerouted.
While Percy said “the physical library will never go away,” the new web site is designed to complement the experience for people who come into the building at 1220 Lawrence St.
“We wanted to make the new site more warm and welcoming,” said Keith Darrock, who supervised its development.
“We made it simpler, while incorporating more choices than there were before.”
Darrock said the new design is less cluttered, using larger graphics with warmer colors.
Special events are presented as a slide show instead of as a list, and language is simplified.
For instance, the “reference desk” option is now called “research and services” and “circulation desk” has become “check out.”
The site, which had not been fully redesigned in 10 years, lacked ways to offer library options that had emerged since that time.
The circulation process has been streamlined. Users can search through the catalogue for a book and place a reserve, so that they can pick it up at the library the next day.
Digital media is now available at the library, offering patrons the option to download audio books or electronic books.
While digital media is easily purchased through services like iTunes and Amazon’s Kindle store, the library option is preferable to many people just because it is free.
It may be less convenient for those who seek instant gratification, as the library has a limited number of copies.
To borrow the latest hot book, it must have been returned by someone else.
This process is actually easier in the digital world. At the end of the loan period, the file just stops working, and no trip to the library is needed to return the material.
The Port Townsend Library web site provides its patrons with access to about 50 proprietary databases, which are not available on the regular Internet.
“You can find a lot of information online but what you get from a regular Google search isn’t verified,” said web developer Ann Welch, who helped build the new site.
“The information in these data bases has been vetted and provides information that you can trust.”
Welch said that anyone who has a library card gains access to a tremendous amount of reliable information.
Percy said the site redesign cost about $6,000 and was paid for by grant money.
The library no longer shares server space with the city of Port Townsend, which will give it more room to provide digital services, Welch said.
Even so, she still expects people to come to the library to borrow books, socialize and use the computer, even if they have Internet access at home.
“There is still something about books that people like,” Percy said.
“They are always there if the power goes out.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.