Monday, October 28, 2013

Why Doesn't The Chicago Public Library Have an App

I was surprised over the weekend when I discovered that the Chicago Public Library does not have an app available. Additionally, their website is not user friendly when you pull it up on your mobile phone or tablet. (It's just a miniaturize version of the main site, which has many tabs and pages posted on the front page. I kept hitting the wrong button.) An app could solve all of these issues, and make it much easier to check the availability of a book and placing it on hold.

I'm very proud of the Chicago Public Library and how it has been forward thinking with integrating technology into the library. But no app... come on!

Look how small the links are.

4 comments:

Matt Maldre said...

You should email them to request a mobile site or an app. The squeaky wheel gets the oil! In fact, I'm going to email them right now!... Here's the email I sent to: webmaster@chipublib.org.

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Greetings, I love the Chicago Public Library website (chipublib.org) when I'm on my laptop. But when I'm on my iPhone, wow. The site is soooo teeny tiny. Attached is a screenshot of the website on my iPhone.

I would like to request that there be a mobile version of the Chicago Public Library website. Or better yet, if that's too much work, just make the current site use a responsive theme, so then you don't have to build parallel sites. Just have the design of the site adapt to the size of the device.

Sincerely a library lover,
Matt Maldre
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Matt Maldre said...

The CPL responded!
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Dear Mr. Maldre,

Thank you for contacting the Chicago Public Library. We're actually working on a new website, which uses a responsive design and features a number of other improvements. We're looking forward to sharing it in the coming months!

Sincerely,
[i'm deleting her name here]
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Chi-Town Kid 83 said...

That is so freaking cool. I very much look forward to seeing the new site

Lady TMarie said...

There's an Android app call chipublib