The Mansfield-Richland County Public Library (MRCPL) is a strong community partner of Buckeye Innovation. We completed their website redesign in 2023. After the site was complete, they came to us to create a mobile app. MRCPL wanted this app to increase the library’s visibility within the community and highlight the wide variety of services that the library provides.
Everyone knows that the library provides free books to the community, but many do not realize that MRCPL loans items such as games, ebooks, audiobooks, and movies. They also offer mobile book delivery and programming for community members of all ages and interests, and they wanted to make those programs accessible for patrons on the go.
We began with a stakeholder interview to determine what services MRCPL wanted to highlight with their app. One major priority was providing full catalog access, which would allow patrons to reserve library materials from the mobile app. However, they also wanted to highlight the library’s role as a pillar of the community where people can meet, learn, and grow. Perhaps most importantly, they wanted the app to be very user-friendly to accommodate all patrons. This brought UX to the forefront of the planning process.
Our designers used Figma to lay out each component of the app. We used 4 large icons on the home screen: Catalog, Events, Location, and Services. Because the library provides so many different services to the community, we had to be strategic about what information to host directly on the app and which components were better served with a redirect to the MRCPL website.
On the app development side, our engineers utilized Flutter to ensure uniformity between the Apple and Android apps. We also used Laravel so that the app could seamlessly communicate with all of the different systems that the library uses.
The new MRCPL App places the library’s services directly into the hands of the community. Users can browse or reserve materials remotely, and then select any branch for retrieving them. Patrons can select a library branch and quickly see the hours, address, and amenities provided at that location.
The Events option provides a searchable, filterable list of community events held at various library branches. This allows patrons to customize their search based on age, location, or interests. Once selected, the app even allows users to add the event directly to their device’s calendar.
The option to add multiple library cards is convenient for families and households to manage all of their materials from one app. Users can view their materials and due dates directly from the app, making it easier than ever to use the library.
With the launch of this app, the Mansfield-Richland County Public Library has truly expanded beyond their physical branches. The library is everywhere.
7775 Walton Parkway, Suite 100
New Albany, Ohio
(614) 289.7900
info@buckeyeinnovation.com
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