Sneak Peak of City Library's New Website (SLC)

MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Andrew Shaw
ashaw@slcpl.org
801-524-8234

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE CITY LIBRARY LAUNCHES GROUNDBREAKING WEB SITE AND ONLINE COMMUNITY FORUM
Web site facilitates Salt Lake City ’s community conversations, enriches library experience

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (March 3, 2011) - The City Library, Salt Lake City’s celebrated cultural center and information hub, today announced the roll out of a transformational Web site, designed to facilitate conversations between members of the community, enhance access to engaging content relevant to topics most important to those in Salt Lake City, and inspire through easy access to information and resources.


The site was launched to library staff today, and will be made available to members of the community in the coming month before official launch slated for early April 2011.


“Today’s libraries serve as a catalyst for exchanging ideas and building community," said Beth Elder, Director for the Salt Lake City Public Library, referring to the programs, education, art, and culture The City Library brings to the community. “Our new Web presence uses cool graphics and an intuitive interface to share the conversations, events, and ideas that make us a vibrant city. The Web site is deeply local yet provides access to a world of information.


“It is a dynamic, living, changing platform for all, and we are excited to see how the community brings it to life.”


In addition to providing access to the library’s traditional resources, the site, built by local digital agency Rain, leverages technologies that embrace community interactions and put the library’s vast offerings into local context.


“The site allows the community to add their own voices to The City Library’s collection, making the library even more meaningful to Salt Lake City ,” said Mark Stevenett, Executive Producer at Rain. “We are honored to be a part of this trailblazing project.”


The site is available to all wishing to take a test drive at http://dev.slcpl.org . All members of the community are encouraged to participate by creating an account and providing feedback through the "Contact Us" section of the site. The City Library will celebrate a full launch in early April.


In addition to improved access to exploring the library collection, local news, and citywide events, some of the innovative features of the new slcpl.org 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.

- Events Calendar: A rich, searchable community resource for what's happening at The City Library and all over town.

- 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.

- LibLab: The LibLab embraces the open nature of online communities, and encourages all to be creative in building The City Library’s online community. Users can create and submit games, applications, widgets, and other web applications, and will feature submissions for the public to play with, be inspired by, and use on their own sites.

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Andrew Shaw
Assistant Manager
Community Affairs
Salt Lake City Public Library
210 East 400 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
ashaw@slcpl.org
801-524-8234