Before patrons check out materials, they can check out the eight libraries in the Santa Clara County Library District, as well as its Bookmobile, via video and 360-degree virtual tours.
The district launched a webpage at sccld.org/virtual-tours that lets online visitors explore each library, including the Cupertino branch, from their electronic devices.
The new webpage also features videos about the district’s children’s and teen areas. The teen video was narrated by a local teen patron. The webpage will be regularly updated as new spaces and services are introduced at the libraries.
The video and virtual tours also highlight services and resources at each library, and the new webpage contains links to the Library’s Fast Facts listing key statistics, its 2023-28 Strategic Plan and Library Locations page.
“Being a five-star library system in the heart of Silicon Valley, we want to provide residents with a cutting-edge, immersive experience of our libraries,” said County Librarian Jennifer Weeks in a statement. “We had overwhelmingly positive feedback about our video tours and hope that the new 360 virtual tours will be a similarly useful tool and encourage everyone to visit all of our library locations.”
Online offerings helped the district keep its five-star rating in 2022 and retain its title as a Star Library for the 15th straight year. The Library Journal ranked the district second overall among U.S. library systems with budgets of more than $30 million. The district was fifth in the rankings in 2021.
Libraries were ranked by item circulation rates (both physical and eMaterials), library visits and program attendance, public computer users and Wi-Fi sessions, electronic retrievals and website visits, plus service populations.
The Santa Clara County Library District made the most improvements over its 2021 score around offerings from its 24/7 Online Library. This came following heavy promotion of the resources available within the online library, as well as the online eCard registration platform for non-library cardholders during the pandemic.The district increased the number and variety of eMaterials available and provided easy accessibility to eBooks, eMagazines, eAudiobooks, databases and other resources.
The district also had a higher circulation of physical materials, even compared to other systems with almost twice the population.
“This is a wonderful way to wrap up the year and recognize the hard work and dedication of our staff,” Weeks said. “Our team brings their A game every day, and this declaration is recognition of that.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com