The Client

The St. Louis Public Library dates back to 1865. Today, the system has 16 branches and Central Library, hosting 2 million visitors per year. The St. Louis Public Library serves and supports individuals and families of the St. Louis community by providing a large variety of resources, initiatives, special programs and services.

The Challenges

St. Louis Public Library needed a place for Teens content that could evolve over time. The basic functionality included blogs, social, user ratings, search and content manageable layouts all within a responsive design.

The Solutions

Roundedcube worked with the SLPL to find a blog solution and community framework that would replace their Wordpress blogs. The site is largely managed through the Zimbra Community, which employs the blog interface for book reviews and news updates and will provide a single technology platform for guest blogging and community engagement in the future. Lucene search bridges the two systems, pulling from Zimbra and site content in Sitecore. A responsive design allows for varied content to be accessible via tablets and smartphones, appealing to the mobile minded teens the site caters to.

The Results

The Teens! site offers a blend of content manageability and open-community features. While the staff is centrally managing the site now, other branches and even the public will be allowed to contribute content over time. The result is a platform that can scale and grow to meet the evolving needs of the Library’s staff and patrons.