Shelton Library's New Web Site is a 'Hit'

The Shelton Public Library’s new Web site employs all the latest interactive features that people have come to expect online.

Librarian Shawn Fields said the new site is completely searchable, compatible with smart phone Internet browsers, and connected to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

He said the new features and new design make it easier for patrons to access all the resources the library makes available online for people with Shelton library cards, and also easier for the library staff to inform local residents about library news.

"There’s just a ton of different ways you can connect with us," Fields told Patch this week.

The new Web site has separate sections for Shelton’s at the corner of Wooster Street and Coram Avenue and the Huntington Branch Library, located in a wing of the Community Center on Church Street in Huntington Center.

Advances in technology are making the library’s web site into a virtual third branch, where residents can access library resources directly or reserve them for pickup at Plumb Memorial or the Branch. Homebound patrons can even have books and other materials delivered.

When Fields took over management of the site in 2008, it was unattractive, hard to navigate, and used antiquated software that didn’t support the new "Web 2.0" interactive technology.

"It was an ancient version of Microsoft FrontPage that was very clunky, not what you’d use today," he said.

The library didn’t have the money to hire a programmer to redesign the site, so in 2009 Fields took on the task himself using an old version of Macromedia’s Dreamweaver.

That solved some of the problems, but it still didn’t allow the use of interactive features that are commonplace for business Web sites, and the site looked different using different Internet browsers.

Finally, last October, the Library Board of Directors gave him the go-ahead to hire a programmer to design a new site. He selected Out-Source Communications, a Waterbury-based company that had worked with many nonprofits in the Naugatuck Valley.

The new site went live in February, and Fields said they’ve spent the last month ironing out the inevitable kinks.

"We’re very happy with it. They did a great job," he said.

The redesigned web site allows the library to better use other Internet technology. Fields said he can link its library program information directly to Facebook and Twitter. Videos and photos taken at library events are uploaded to YouTube and Flickr, the picture-sharing site, and YouTube videos can be embedded in the library site’s Web pages.

For example, a recent Korean cultural program at the library included the demonstration of a traditional Korean wedding ceremony. A video of the ceremony is available on the new Web site.

Another big advantage is the new site is searchable, and multiple pages can be programmed to display the same information automatically.

"We have so many pages. We have 55 pages of content," Fields said. Before, Fields had to add the same information to many different pages to make it easy for visitors to find. Now, the majority of that repetition can be avoided.

It also makes archiving easier, such as for the library’s quarterly newsletters.

The site also has links to digital scrapbooks, which are digitized images of old documents, photographs and newspaper clippings. Fields said the library has a scrapbook, and there’s also a World War II serviceman’s scrapbook and one for the Sterling Piano Company, a local business in downtown Shelton.

He brought up the library scrapbook on his computer, showing scrapbook clippings from the Evening Sentinel in 1923 reporting the titles of new books that the Plumb Memorial Library just added to its collection.

"That’s something we didn’t have up there before," he said.

But they do now, through a feature called the "Wowbrary." It lets patrons sign up for email notices listing the library’s latest acquisitions, not just books, but also videos, CDs and audiobooks.

Mindful that patrons’ age differences make a difference in what they come to the Web site for, the redesigned site has separate tabs for kids, teens and adults.

"We tried to create a page for every user," he said, "so each user can feel they have a place to alight."

There’s also a tab for the Friends of the Shelton Libraries, the volunteer organization that tries to help raise money and improve the library’s collections.

Another key interactive feature allows patrons to purchase tote bags and other fund-raising items directly through their PayPal accounts.

Patrons can even book a library meeting room through the Web site using their PayPal account (there’s a modest charge).

Check out the library's new site at http://sheltonlibrarysystem.org/plumb-library!