The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library
In a small suburb of Boston, the town of Wakefield, Massachusetts is home to the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, named after its first library commissioner and benefactor. A grounding point for the community since its founding in 1856, the library continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of town residents and library patrons alike.
Their logo, a Beehive or “Skep”, reflects the symbol of the Beebe family, and bees are not only found as a motif hidden throughout the original historic library building from 1923 but were the starting point and inspiration in BI Studio’s development of the library’s online branded experience and overall new website design.
Incorporated subtly throughout the website, this “winged worker” cleverly reinforces an aspect of community as it invites website visitors to “Join The Hive” as they sign up for the library’s newsletter, or to participate in “Buzzworthy” events as shared on the homepage and through their integrated online calendar.
Wakefield Library staff approached BI Studio to create a new website that reflected the essence of their organization, to integrate new and existing technologies seamlessly, allowing for access to databases, calendar of events, services, traditional media, and more.
A clean, user-friendly site hierarchy was developed first in coordination with the library based on the user’s needs. It was broken down into four key categories through the primary navigation that visitors can easily recognize: “Books & More”, “Services,”, “Events,” and “About.”
Access to information is facilitated through a familiar Mega-Menu approach to navigation, with highly requested areas of the site coordinated through a visually appealing “Quick Links” structure featured on the homepage and appropriate detail pages.
A global Site Search allows visitors an alternative means of location, focused on filtering website results by Site or Events, and access to a detailed Catalog Search integrated through NOBLE Net technology.
As libraries navigate their way through the 21st century, the importance of integrated technologies into their website plays a critical role in offering more streamlined, accessible, and modern services, making the overall experience better for users. BI focused on bringing this to life through several established library technologies:
The Lucius Beebe Library has a simple mission, to be “A resource for understanding issues, making decisions, solving problems, improving performance, and satisfying curiosity, in hopes to enhance the quality of life of its patrons and supporting their aspirations.”
Their community-focused, content-rich, and easy-to-use website helps daily in achieving that aspiration, made possible through their improved easy-to-use website and accessible online resources.
BI Studio is pleased to have been a part of the Wakefield Library’s role in strengthening the fabric of their community, and ongoing online presence.
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