How Edmonton Public Library Grew its Online Memberships & Traffic with a Seamless Website Experience

To achieve its mission, the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) actively works to be innovative, customer-oriented, and Community-Led. EPL’s Community-Led Service Philosophy is a framework for EPL to build relationships and identify and meet customer needs. EPL’s focus is on anyone facing barriers to using its services.

This philosophy is all about improving services and finding ways to meet evolving community needs. EPL connects, consults, and collaborates with individuals and groups to understand the needs of the community so as to inform the direction of the library’s work and policies.

Being an early adopter of BiblioCommons’ products played a major role in EPL’s strategy for reaching those goals. Today, by making it easy to browse and access the library’s collection, leverage its facilities, and speak to staff in real time online, EPL is driving more traffic and more engagement to its digital and physical spaces. 

Objectives

One of EPL’s goals is to empower its customers to fully access their public library. That starts with making it easier to browse and borrow from EPL’s vast print and digital collection. But a library catalog is complex, which makes presenting information in intuitive and accessible ways challenging. Some materials exist in different formats (physical copies, eBooks, etc.) and across multiple editions and series. Showing users what they want to see by searching the catalog while, simultaneously, serving friction-free hold and check-out options isn’t easy. 

For EPL, aligning the catalog search experience with user expectations was critical. They wanted to make sure customers  were finding exactly what they intended, and that they could see and take advantage of the different formats and options available. However, and as importantly, EPL also wanted to open rewarding pathways for its users to discover content, classes and events based on their interests.

In addition, EPL looked to fully bring its appealing website experience to its mobile app. This was important because EPL’s website is a pathway to accessing its library program and services. With mobile being the primary interaction point for many people, a poor app experience could stop library users from fully accessing EPL’s collection, classes, events, resources, and location information. 

Before subscribing to BiblioApps, EPL’s previous app had a user experience that wasn’t friendly; it was clunky and difficult to navigate. Customers had a hard time finding what they wanted from the collection. There was a clear disconnect between the user experience on the website and the app, and as a result, EPL’s customers were frustrated with the old experience. 

Solutions

EPL chose to work with BiblioCommons because of its in-depth and real-world knowledge of how libraries work. EPL wanted a partner that understood how to optimally serve catalog information to customers, so they find what they want, and are readily aware of their options across different editions and formats. Finally, EPL wanted to ensure the mobile and desktop web experiences were consistent, seamless, and visually engaging. 

To that end, EPL launched BiblioCore, BiblioWeb, and BiblioApps. By using BiblioCore, EPL was able to provide a discovery layer that made it easier to search, browse, and borrow from its vast collection, be it digital or physical. Not only do users find what they expect from search, but they’re able to readily see all the formats available. If they want a specific format, like an audiobook, they can borrow it seamlessly. If a title is completely checked out or has many holds, EPL will serve recommendations to the users of similar or comparable items which are available to borrow. By putting the customer experience at the center of the catalog borrowing process, EPL is making it easier and more rewarding for people to engage with their public library. 

“BiblioCommons’ in-depth knowledge of libraries and cataloguing has helped ensure material is presented through the discovery layer, which enables customers to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for.” 

Pilar Martinez, Chief Executive Officer

Next, with the BiblioWeb content management system, EPL also serves its facilities and resources alongside its catalog to give customers total access to the library. So, besides borrowing, users can call upon EPL’s Outreach Social Workers, leverage its Makerspace facilities, and view as well as book meeting rooms—all from within the website.

Finally, with BiblioApps, EPL brought its engaging online experience to mobile, thereby opening another pathway for users to connect with the library. The experience between the full browser and app is consistent in both design and functionality, especially with the library catalog. Customers can easily search and borrow from EPL’s collection using the app just as they would on a desktop. 

Results

EPL saw growth across its digital spaces: online memberships grew by 20% from 2020 to 2021; website visits rose by 13% from 2021 to 2022.

Empowering people to access their public library’s digital and physical spaces reflects EPL’s strong customer service focus. This user-focused approach to technology appeals to EPL customers, and the library wants to ensure that it stays aligned with its users’ expectations. EPL also leaned on BiblioCommons’ commitment to website accessibility standards to ensure all its users, no matter their abilities, can leverage their library’s online experience.

Future

EPL is working to deepen its connection with the community by providing a unified experience through the integration of BiblioCommons’ suite of products. BiblioCommons plays a key role in achieving that goal. Building on that momentum, EPL recently launched BiblioEmail to provide value to customers in more personalized ways, such as making it easier to register for upcoming programs and events by serving direct links to the website through email.

Finally, be it new features, improving accessibility, or driving more consistency across the library experience in person and digitally, EPL will work with BiblioCommons to ensure it delivers based on its users’ needs and expectations now and into the future. EPL will draw on the collective feedback and experiences of every library using BiblioCommons products to deliver a best-in-class library experience to the Edmonton community.