Kitchener Public Library

About our partner

Kitchener Public Library (KPL) is a large library network in Kitchener, Ontario. The brand represents five locations across the Kitchener region, providing their communities with a wide range of services, resources, and events to support their ongoing learning, research, and leisure.

About the project

KPL required a newly redesigned modern mobile-friendly website in a new content management system. Their current site was outdated and developed in Drupal, making their site difficult to manage and update. KPL also wished to have a more accessible and streamlined event listing tool, that was part of the CMS rather than using a third-party integration.

What we accomplished

After a comprehensive discovery process, Sandbox found that the Oasis CMS could best meet the goals of KPL. Through Oasis, Sandbox was able to develop a full event listing page, registration, and calendar within the site. Updates to the search capabilities were made with an catalogue item ID focus for more precise results. Three search options were made available: Site, Catalogue, and Site and Catalogue. A digital library list template was used to best display card views for books and categories for genres. An easy-to-read column template was used on numerous venue pages. Navigation tools such as accordions and tabs were implemented throughout the site for better organization of content.

The newly redesigned KPL website features an accessible modern look with iconography navigation on the home page. Other navigation tools such as accordions and tabs keep pages on the site from being cluttered and requiring more unnecessary scrolling. Library users can search anything in KPL’s entire catalogue based on ID. Now, pages like ‘books’ and ‘award winners’ are much easier for staff to build and maintain. This feature also works for their movies page. With advanced search capabilities, events within specific interests and categories are easily found. All KPL social media has been integrated seamlessly along with the library’s extensive blog catalogue. The new site also features a live chat function for user support.