Grants
Round 2

Northamptonshire Libraries play a vital role in supporting digital inclusion and are keen to exploit digital innovation to achieve this. We originally implemented self service kiosks across our libraries several years ago before self service was a common place as it is today. The next innovation in this area is enabling library borrowers to issue and return their library items from their smart devices. By offering this solution it will help us to enable library borrowers to feel more confident with their own devices but also encourage other library users to borrow library items for those who feel less comfortable when using the library via traditional methods. The project will also help Northamptonshire Libraries meet the council's pledge to be more green and sustainable in terms of hardware sustainability and the cost of replacing our traditional self service kiosks.

This project aims to develop virtual tours of larger Inspire library buildings that will enable better online access to the range of services and enable those visiting to locate resources, staff and spaces within the library. The project will provide software and build skills within the Inspire team to produce virtual tours and enable those created to be updated. The aim is to ensure full accessibility for all, and remove barriers for users with visual impairment, hearing loss and limited mobility. The tours will also support the aim to be a family friendly and autistic friendly library service.

To improve discoverability and use of our digital resources and events, we will implement the Discover Webapp, developed in partnership with Inlead ApS. We offer an extensive range of ebooks/eaudiobooks, digital newspapers and magazines, alongside vast collections of reference materials. However, these are hosted on multiple platforms and awareness/usage is low. User experience is complicated; accounting for less than 15% of our overall usage. Attendance at events is also low as customers say they don't know about them. The Discover Webapp will help customers find out about our events and uncover the full range of digital materials available to them.

Somerset Libraries will commission the creation of 33 virtual tours (32 libraries / 1 mobile library) to be hosted via Google Maps and linked to our web pages. The new tours will mean we can link to new/updated tours for all library spaces, so we can appeal to vulnerable people such as those living with autism, dementia or a physical disability. We will also create new engaging interactive content using this technology. We have created virtual tours ourselves in the past which proved very popular, but they are out of date and no longer available as Google has changed its policy.

We would like to commission a film which showcases our flagship library The Word for people who have not yet visited. The film will explain that Libraries are free to visit, books are free to borrow and who to ask for help, as well as showing the features of the building. This will also give us a chance to show people parts of the building which aren't always accessible, such as the roof garden.