Overview
The site, on first impression, is not overly attractive. The colours are fairly dull and the images sparse. However, the interface is designed in such a way that it is very easy to navigate back and forth between the different pages on the site. The site does an extremely good job with readers advisory, but there is little else on the site.
Features
Recommended Books: On a sidebar, there are three recommended books. This is a smart way to feature some books, but the images and titles are not linked to the catalogue or any further information. Having these kinds of links would render this feature much more useful.
Reviews: The website has reviews written by both teens and the library staff. This section is well-organized, dividing books into fiction and non-fiction, and then further dividing these by genre. This is a very useful feature for quickly getting some book suggestions and ratings.
Events: This feature is currently empty. Whether this is due to a lack of programs or simply because it has not been updated is unclear. As it is shown right now, this feature is misleading and useless.
Reading Lists: This section contains some readers advisory lists made by the library. These lists include such titles as "Finished Harry Potter? Try these other fantasy quests" and "Girls Who Kick Some Serious @#&!." The lists are robust and have a wide variety within each one, but like the "Recommended Books" section would benefit from linking the books to the library's catalogue.
Links: This section provides some useful links for resources that might be useful for teens, from readers advisory, to university information, to zines.
Suggested Improvements
As mentioned above, providing links from book information to the catalogue would be helpful for teens looking to retrieve these books. Additionally, it would be a good idea to expand the focus of the site beyond readers advisory to such things like community involvement and programs.
Suggested audience
Grades 7-12
As mentioned above, providing links from book information to the catalogue would be helpful for teens looking to retrieve these books. Additionally, it would be a good idea to expand the focus of the site beyond readers advisory to such things like community involvement and programs.
Suggested audience
Grades 7-12
Category
Library Website for Teens
Library Website for Teens
