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Bibliotheca’s new app simplifies borrowing and returning books to the library

Oakdale, Minnesota – June 6th, 2019

Today’s library users increasingly rely on a variety of apps to make their day-to-day interactions easier and more convenient. With cloudLibrary, libraries can now offer an app experience on par with the leading apps users depend on daily. Library users can now turn to the cloudLibrary app to easily manage their borrowing history, keep track of their library card, borrow eBooks and audiobooks, and check out physical items directly from their smartphone.

Having delivered an outstanding experience for library eBook readers and audiobook listeners for the past 7 years, cloudLibrary is now expanding to bring helpful new features that appeal to all library users. New functionality offers easily accessible virtual library cards, mobile checkout, and interactive receipts that allow users to sort, favorite, and renew both physical and digital items directly from their smartphones. Library events and due-date notifications are displayed on the home screen, fully integrating a library’s digital and physical experience.

“We asked ourselves how we could create an app that allows more people to easily interact with and borrow from their local library,” says Tom Mercer, Senior Vice President of Digital Products. “We focused on the activities that seem to frustrate people most when borrowing physical items from the library. Common questions from library users were “What did I borrow?”, “When do I need to bring it back?” and “Where did I put my library card?”. The cloudLibrary team at bibliotheca used mobile technology to tackle these frustrations and deliver a great mobile experience that streamlines the library experience for both digital and print borrowers.”

Seven libraries across the US and Canada worked closely with bibliotheca to ensure the app’s new functionality would meet the needs and desires of their library users. The feedback from library users has been extremely positive.

The new cloudLibrary app modernizes the library experience, providing users with the personalization, convenience and ease-of-use that they’ve come to expect from other smartphone apps.

One user from Lawrence Public Library shared, “I used this app, and I LOVED IT!!! I have four library cards in the house, and this app worked great for checking books out on everyone’s account. I didn’t have any trouble, and I didn’t have to fish a million cards out of my wallet.”

“We were thrilled to partner with a diverse set of libraries that embrace technology to evolve the library user experience,” says Linette Greske, MLIS, cloudLibrary’s Technical Operations Manager. “Through an extensive beta program, we took the feedback we received directly to our developers. Our partnership with these seven libraries provided valuable insight into how cloudLibrary would function in diverse library environments around the world. We took what we learned from libraries of all sizes and used it to make cloudLibrary even better.”

Sioux Center Public Library Library Director, Becky Bilby says, “It’s our goal to be on the forefront of technology. We have a long-standing relationship with bibliotheca and knew when they came out with something new, it would be something we could trust and get our library users excited about.”

New Orleans Public Library Adult Collection Developer, Rel Ferrar says, “I love seeing cloudLibrary create such innovative new features within the new app. The new UI provides a fabulous browsing experience and will really help increase our digital circulation. Useful new features like filtering by language, viewing more titles within a series, and the ability to manage multiple library cards will delight our users!”

New and updated features of the cloudLibrary app are now available to public and academic libraries worldwide. The bibliotheca team will be available to give live app demonstrations at booth 1607 of the American Library Association Annual Conference, held from June 21st to June 24th in Washington DC.

Additionally, Becky Bilby, the Library Director of Sioux Center Public Library will give an extensive presentation on her library’s experience with the new cloudLibrary app and the outcomes from their community at the cloudLibrary ideaXchange on Saturday, June 22nd from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm.

See how we streamline the library experience for patrons and librarians alike by downloading the new cloudLibrary brochure.

Download cloudLibrary Brochure

About Bibliotheca

Bibliotheca is dedicated to the development of innovative technologies and library management solutions that help sustain and grow libraries around the world. Bibliotheca reimagines how libraries function, using integrated technology  to inspire and delight all kinds of people, wherever they are: at home, on the move, or within the library walls.

Bibliotheca employs 400 people across 21 countries, partnering with 30,000 libraries to make the library experience—physical and digital—seamless, intuitive, and inclusive.

For more information on this release, please contact
press@bibliotheca.com.

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