Overwhelming Majority of WA State Library Users say New App Powered by Boopsie Increases Library Usage
Sunnyvale, CA (PRWEB) January 16, 2015 -- A survey of more than 1,000 library patrons in Washington State found that the statewide Library Now mobile app developed in partnership with Boopsie, which aggregates apps for dozens of library systems throughout the state, helps to extend the participating libraries’ existing in-library services. 90% of respondents indicated they visit their library’s physical location, 85.5% access the library through the Library Now App, and 74.8% use the library’s other online services. More detailed results from the survey are now freely available at http://www.boopsie.com.
“The Pew Research Center recently reported that of library users who self-reported a decrease in library usage, 40% of those users find Internet research more convenient than physical research at the library,” said Rand Simmons, Washington State Librarian, Office of the Secretary of State. “While that leaves a large number of patrons still served by the physical library, numbers like this—along with our commitment to ensuring open, easy and free access to ebooks—inspired us to think outside of traditional brick and mortar services. Boopsie was the ideal partner to meet our diverse users’ needs. They developed our statewide app in partnership with the individual library systems, enabling our librarians to reach those 69% of library patrons who use mobile apps to access information.”
“Our partnership with the Washington State Library was a perfect opportunity to enable the state’s innovative libraries to make more services available cost-effectively, to their diverse and increasingly mobile users,” says Tony Medrano, CEO of Boopsie. “With our mobile app platform, the libraries are able to make their extensive print, electronic and human resources readily available beyond the library buildings to the general public whenever needed. The work we did with the State of Washington also helped us get closer to our goal of supporting libraries’ individual and unique missions by providing scalable, reliable and easy-to-use library-branded mobile apps that users of library resources increasingly demand.”
Additional survey findings include:
- 43.8% of participants use the Library Now Mobile App (by Boopsie) at least one time per week
- 58.3% say the new app makes accessing library services easier or more convenient and another 32.8% say the app is equally as easy and convenient as other methods
- The top use for the app is to search the library catalog for content followed by placing an item on hold and checking library hours
During Q1 2015, Boopsie will perform a similar in-app user survey, free of charge, for all Optimum Plus package subscribers. Please contact Team Boopsie for more information.
Funding for this project included a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and also came from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the auspices of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
About Boopsie
Boopsie, Inc. is the industry-leading mobile platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider for over 4,000 library locations worldwide. Boopsie’s library-branded mobile apps are affordable, easy to deploy and maintain, and enable libraries of all types and sizes, including academic, corporate, public and special, to quickly acquire new users and increase circulation. Boopsie’s mobile apps are fully hosted and maintained by Boopsie’s U.S. based customer service organization and are designed for Android, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Windows Mobile, Windows 8, Kindle Fire and even Blackberry platforms. Boopsie enables 24/7 remote library access via the user’s device of choice. Boopsie also sells subscription services including a “Books-as-Seen-on-TV” subscription and a digital catalog of comics and graphic novels. Visit Boopsie.com for more information about mobile apps for libraries.
Tony Medrano, Boopsie for Libraries, http://www.boopsie.com/, +1 650-241-3300, [email protected]
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