For this assignment, we had to tour a library’s virtual presence. The library had to be one that was featured in an article in American Libraries. The article I chose was Can You Hear Me Now? Library managers on the challenges of leading from a distance by Carli Spina. My eyes were immediately drawn to the sidebar at the end of the article where it mentioned Graves County Public Library. In the sidebar, it stated that Graves County Public Library has a bookmobile that logs 500-700 miles per month and “accounts for a quarter of the library’s checkouts” (2020, pg.15). I have such fond memories of bookmobiles from both my childhood and my children’s that I decided to select this library for my project.
Graves County Public Library
Website: https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/
Graves County Public Library is located in Mayfield, Kentucky. It was established in 1940 and “offers a variety of electronic databases, ebooks, books, and DVD checkouts, book clubs, and many other services at no cost to patrons” (Graves County Public Library, n.d., Homepage).
Below I have provided a brief description of each link I toured on their website.
Homepage
On the homepage, you can find a lot of useful information about the library. This includes:
- Hours of operation
- Telephone number
- Fax number
- Social media account
- Mission Statement
It also included other important information such as a notice that the library would be closed for Veteran’s Day and other programs, patrons could sign up for such as the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and homeschool resources.
Resources
The library offers several different resources for its patrons. These include:
- Kentucky Driver’s Practice Tests and Manuals
- Jobs for Teens
- E-Books/Kentucky Unbound
- Gale Courses
- Hoopla Digital
- Mango Languages
- Tumblebook
- KYVL.ORG
- Ancestry.com
- Family Search
- Scholastic Teachables
- Creative Bug
- Friends Newsletter
All the links are grouped together at the top of the page. However, patrons can see descriptions of each resource and access an additional link to the source if they scroll further down the page.
There is also information on the resource page about joining the Friends of Library group. There is a fee for joining ($10 single membership/$25 family membership). There are several perks for joining this group such as having priority on waiting lists and extended checkout time for DVDs.
Patrons can also find information about Inter-Library Loans on the resource page. It walks patrons through the steps and requirements of requesting a book from other Kentucky libraries.
Calendar of Events
Patrons can find a monthly calendar of events and closures for the library on this page. When I viewed this page, I could only see the events for November. It did not allow me to click to the next month. There were several closures for the month of November due to Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving. There were also several events for the month. Some of the events for November include:
- Grab N Go Crafts
- Lego Night
- Book Club
- Anime Teen Night
- Family BINGO
- 80’s and 90’s Trivia Night
Although patrons can see the event and time, it was not possible to click on the event to find out more information about it. I was a little disappointed that descriptions of the events were not available.
The only mention of COVID restrictions I could find on their website concerned upcoming events. Any event that was in person, there was a statement that said masks were required. Other than that, I could not find any information about curbside pickup or other COVID restrictions.
Book Clubs
Graves County Public Library offers two book clubs: Lunch Book Club and Night Book Club. On this website, patrons can see the book each club is currently reading. Patrons can also click on the link for each club to see upcoming meeting details and a description of the current book.
New Materials
There is a link for new materials. Patrons can look at new materials in four different categories: Adult, Junior/YA, Children and DVD/Audio. When patrons click on the different categories, they can see new releases sorted by release date. I was surprised by how many new releases were on the lists for both fiction and nonfiction books.
Location & Contact
On this webpage, patrons can see a list of all employees and contact information for most of the staff members. Patrons can also find the circulation desk phone number and extension on this page.
When I viewed the website, there were currently 13 members on staff. This included several librarians for different departments. They have the following librarians on staff:
- Youth Services Librarian
- Family/Adult Programming Librarian
- Teen Programming Librarian
- Technical Services Librarian
- Bookmobile Librarian
At the bottom of the webpage, was a map of the local area. I enjoyed looking around on the map and taking note of where the library was located within the town. It is close to a park, which makes it easily accessible to patrons who are visiting the park to stop by the library as well. I was hoping to see how close it was to the local schools but could not find the schools on the map.
Policies
On this webpage, patrons will find information on applying for a library card, check out policies for new cardholders, responsibilities of having a library card and checking out materials and their open records policy.
There were a couple of their policies that I found interesting. The first thing I found interesting was one of the requirements for applying for a library card. Applicants must provide a personal reference. This made me wonder if other public libraries require the same thing, especially my local library. I also found their restrictions for checking out materials for new card holders interesting as well. New card holders are only allowed to check out three books or magazines during their first three checkout times. After that time, patrons can utilize all materials the library has to offer. I found this policy very restrictive and wondered what the reasoning behind it was.
Bookmobile Schedule
I selected this library because of its bookmobile program. I was surprised when I could not find anything about the book mobile when I visited the website on November 3, 2021. I thought when I initially looked at it there was information about the bookmobile so I did a quick Google search and found a link to the October 2021 bookmobile schedule. I plan to check back by the end of the week to see if the November schedule has been added. I was quite surprised by how many stops the bookmobile made in the month of October. There were over 100 bookmobile stops scheduled. Some of these stops included schools, apartments, daycares (children and adults), churches and a grocery store.
Patron Account
This link was at the top right corner of the website. The online account and catalog was one of the first things I looked for when I started my library website visit. To be honest, I had a difficult time finding it. I thought it would be included as one of the header links since that is where my eyes were drawn to first.
When I finally noticed and clicked on it, it took me to another page where patrons could log in to their accounts. Once logged in, patrons can view things like items they currently have checked out, fines, and books they have requested. This is also where I found the catalog for the library’s collection. I could not tell if the library had any special collections.
Banner
There is an event banner that runs just below all the different website links. The banner is set on an automatic timer or patrons can click through it to see the different events that the library is sponsoring.
Social Media
Graves County Public Library has both a Facebook and Twitter account. They are very active on their Facebook page. Scrolling through, I could see posts about events, author spotlights and other fun posts that encouraged Facebook users to participate by commenting with their responses. They are also active on Twitter and a lot of their posts are very similar to those that were on their Facebook page. They currently have just under 1,300 followers.
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/gravescountypubliclibrary
Twitter- https://www.instagram.com/gravescountypubliclibrary/?hl=en
Conclusion
Overall, I think the Graves County Public Library has a nice little website. The colors were appealing and it was fairly easy to navigate. It also provided patrons a lot of information about how to apply for a library card and place books on hold. They also have very active Facebook and Twitter accounts which helps reach patrons that prefer those platforms.
However, I would say that it is a very basic website with no frills. Patrons cannot apply for library cards or place a book on hold using an online system. There are no chat assistance options, videos or virtual tours. It is also not a website that would be easily accessible to patrons with disabilities or language differences. There are no audio options and the entire website is written in English. Adding some of these options to their website would greatly benefit their patrons.
References
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Book clubs. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/book-clubs.html
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Bookmobile. Retrieved November 2, 2021, https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/bookmobile-schedule.html
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Calendar of Events. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/Public-Library-Events.html
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Home page. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Locations & Contact. Retrieved November 2, 2021, https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/Public-Library-Contact-Location.html
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) New Materials. Retrieved November 2, 2021, https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/new-materials.html
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Policies. Retrieved November 2, 2021, https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/Public-Library-Policies.html
Graves County Public Library (n.d.) Resources. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.gravescountypubliclibrary.org/E-books-Book-Clubs.html
Spina, C. (2020). Can You Hear Me Now? Library managers on the challenges of leading from a distance. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from, https://web-s-ebscohost-com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=f51bc835-592c-4ae8-9821-c565b31ffaa1%40redis