LIBRARY LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE

After more than a year of proposals, plans, designs and drafts, the Tompkins County Public Library has a new website.

The Library launched the newly-designed http://tcpl.org/ Thursday with the hopes of making the website more easily accessible and visually appealing for its patrons.

"We are tremendously excited to finally debut our new site," Library Director Susan Currie said. "We hope patrons will appreciate the fresh look and remote access to such a wealth of information."

The new site offers patrons online access to local history, special event, exhibit and programming information, downloadable music and videos, access to magazine and newspaper archives, databases for language learning, reference and reading and the ability to search the Library’s catalog.

Reference Librarian and Web Manager Joyce Wheatley and fellow librarian Cassandra Shortle have worked with Chris Grant and his staff at Gorges Website Design and Development to make the idea of a new website a reality, and Wheatley was quick to praise the Gorges Team.

"None of this would have been possible without Gorges," Wheatley said. "They helped us turn our thoughts and goals for a new site from something that seemed overwhelming to something tangible that we are really proud of."

Gorges has assisted in the development, design and scripting of countless regional and nationally-recognized websites including: Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Plantsmen Nursery, Earthsense and Martha Stewart Omnimedia.

Wheatley said their expertise was invaluable in creating visually appealing designs to engage audiences of various ages and help the Library meet the growing and changing needs of its patrons.

Among the features patrons can expect on the new site are: multiple points of access to information, drop-down windows, breadcrumbs to help users locate where they are in the website, easier access to language-learning tools and updated kids and teen pages. Library patrons can also access account information, place holds on materials and access Library databases and electronic resources. The new site is also accessible on mobile devices such as iPods and cellular phones.

For more information about the Library’s new site, contact Wheatley at webmanager@tcpl.org.