Grand Forks Library, ND Launches Revitalized Brand and Website

Grand Forks, North Dakota is not just your average city. Nestled along the Red River, and home to The University of North Dakota, it offers its 60,000 residents a vibrant downtown, a bustling art scene, convenient access to quality hockey games, and a never-ending list of family-friendly community activities. Just like its city, Grand Forks Library is not just your average building of books. With a history that dates back 116 years, the Library offers patrons educational and fun children’s events, early literacy programs, craft opportunities, and a wide variety of programs and engagement opportunities for teens, adults, and seniors.

“Coming into 2019, we wanted to be known as more than a library,” said Nicole Smestad, Marketing Director for Grand Forks Library.

As part of the library’s efforts to reposition itself and reinforce its identity as a local space for learning and creativity, it partnered with its website design and hosting solution partner, CivicPlus^®, to launch a redesigned website.

A Library Rebranding and Website Redesign

Before 2019, Grand Forks Library maintained a CivicEngage website on CivicPlus’ older, V4 platform.
Note: CivicEngage is now called CivicPlus Municipal Websites software

“Our previous website was outdated, and the branding made us feel like an old library that only offered books,” said Smestad. “It wasn’t what we wanted people to think about when they thought of what we offer the community. It was also difficult for our website users to find the information they were searching for because we had created duplicate content in multiple places and links to other links. We wanted to rethink our website’s content structure and offer one-click navigation to make it easier for users to find information.”

Smestad adds that she and the Library’s leadership also wanted the website to feel updated and modern as they focused their overarching marketing efforts on their new branding.

“Our new tagline, a playground for curious minds, really reinforces who we are,” said Smestad. “We are innovative and forward-thinking, and we wanted our online presence to reflect that.”

Library Website Redesign Implementation

Smestad had joined the Grand Forks Library in her role as marketing director three months before kicking off the website redesign process. Working with her CivicPlus implementation team, they reviewed examples of other library websites designed and hosted by CivicPlus for inspiration in design, functionality, and format.

“When I told our client success manager about our goals, and that we didn’t want to look like a typical library, she became very excited to help us migrate to CivicPlus’ newer platform,” said Smestad. “We identified four or five other CivicPlus library websites that we liked and kept those in mind as we made decisions about our redesign.”

Pre-Launch Training

As a marketing department of one, it was critical for Smestad to be entirely comfortable managing the Library’s new website before its public launch. She met with one of CivicPlus’ dedicated trainers for three, four-hour training sessions.

“The training was fantastic,” said Smestad. “The system is very intuitive once you know the basics. What I loved most about the training was that our trainer was just as intuitive. She picked up on my personality and how quickly I was learning and adjusted our schedule based so that I got the most out of our time together. Other companies I’ve worked with have always stuck to their training schedule no matter what, which means faster learners get bored and slower learners get left behind. I appreciated that we moved ahead and focused on the tools and functionality that were most important to our needs.”

Introducing the New Grand Forks Library Website

Thanks to their migration to a newer CivicEngage system, the Grand Forks Library is benefitting from a reimagined brand as well as more modern functionality.

“Now we’re using Agenda Center for our board meetings which is much easier, especially for our patrons who regularly review our agendas,” said Smestad. “Our patrons are also benefitting from the Facilities feature, as now they can reserve meeting rooms online.”

According to Smestad, citizens appreciate the library’s new website and its new branding. For Smestad, she values the support she received from her team at CivicPlus.

“This was hands down the easiest and most intuitive group I have ever worked with for a website redesign,” said Smestad. “Other website development companies I have worked with do not respond as quickly. My CivicPlus team read my mind whenever I needed something. Plus, our website’s launch was flawless. We decided it was time to launch, and in ten minutes, the switch was complete.”

If you’re ready to see how a website redesign with CivicPlus can enhance your brand and engage your citizens, click here to learn more about our intuitive content management system.