I’ve heard it a lot: “We want to make OUR website better, but we’re stuck using our city’s system!” It breaks my heart every time, not only because of the underperforming library website but also because it means that a stakeholder in the local government isn’t recognizing that librarians are information professionals who might know a thing or two about websites. If you or someone you know is in this position, read on. Below is a letter, from me—a library website specialist—that you can send to your city manager or other stakeholder. With any luck, adding another voice to your cause will help you prevail.

Dear [insert name of stakeholder/s],

[Insert your name] recently contacted me asking what I thought about [his/her] library’s website. In particular, [she/he] was interested to know if there was anything [she/he] could do to improve the website, given that the site is part of your city’s website.

Unfortunately, the news isn’t good. If [he/she] is forced to use the city’s templates, it will be nearly impossible for [him/her] to create and maintain a useful and user-friendly library website. Let me highlight some issues:

Hidden catalog search box

Most people visit library websites to search for items, place holds, and review loan periods. In a user-centered design, the search box and account info must be prominent. All of the other elements on the city’s templates make these things difficult to find. With its own site, the library will be able to make these things apparent, as well as merchandize materials, promote events, and make its contact, hours, and location information easier to find. Forcing the library’s website into your CMS makes it difficult for the library to do a good job.

Too much navigation

Even the simplest library websites need navigation items (like a menu) to help people accomplish their tasks. The labels they choose should be highly legible and easy to scan. Your city has navigational needs, too. There’s a lot of information on your site; from budget committee minutes to animal control, your site needs to help visitors find what they need. Yet your city’s navigation items and the library’s navigation items are tripping over each other and rendering them less effective than they could be. Visitors have too much to look at, and this is making it difficult for them to find what they want.

New domain

Something as subtle as a new domain can have a huge, positive impact on the library’s branding and identity. Library users will be much more comfortable with a simple domain name—[insert your new, usable domain here]—rather than the current URL generated from your content management system (CMS): (e.g., http://www.url.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC= {47891B52 -5E4B-4F79-8B80-8F6A5434D756}). The library is a department of your city. As such, it is reasonable for your city’s website to continue to have some basic information about the library on it. It can also point people to its new domain.

Security is not an issue

I understand that your IT department may have cited vague concerns about security when telling the library that it couldn’t have its own website. I’m not sure if you were concerned about the security of the city’s network, or concerned about the integrity of the library’s data. Either way, there’s no real risk here. In fact, if the library’s website is hosted externally, it will be removed from your network—much like its current integrated library system—putting your network at less risk. As far as protecting the library’s data, as information professionals, the staff of the library understand that they will need to choose a reliable host with solid uptime.

Money is always an issue, to be sure. Maybe the city is assuming that by forcing multiple departments, including the library, to use a single CMS you can recoup some value. But [insert library name] has looked at its budget and is exploring some economical options. Hosting is fairly inexpensive these days, and there is a good deal of solid free and open source software that the library might be able to use.

Having a vibrant, easy-to-use, and useful library website increases the value of the library. The more the library gets used, the more pleased people will be to live in your community. If you let your librarians do their thing, they’ll add to the value of your city. If you have any other concerns about your city’s library having its own website, please get in touch. I’d love to hear about it.

Respectfully,

Aaron Schmidt Library website expert and Library Journal columnist

LIBRARY UX: Transforming Libraries, Engaging Communities is a three-part series of free, one-hour webcasts focusing on user experience (UX) design, an unparalleled framework for improving and transforming libraries, moderated by LJ columnist Aaron Schmidt, Principal, Influx Library User Experience. Register for the FREE series today!