Library Connect: Built for Customer Experience
Pioneer Library System
Innovation Synopsis
Pioneer Library System has long been recognized for its nimble, innovative approach to meeting customer needs, but was ready to transform its digital infrastructure to match modern community needs. Rather than settling for off-the-shelf calendar software, PLS developed Library Connect, a custom platform built with Phase 2, the same firm that created the PLS Connect mobile app a decade earlier. This branded solution consolidates previously separate systems for events, meeting room reservations, digital displays, and staff appointments into a single, cohesive interface. The platform's seamless integration across web and mobile creates an invisible bridge between the library's website and its service tools, ensuring customers never feel like they've left the library's digital space. By choosing to build rather than buy, PLS gained complete control over its technology roadmap, enabling rapid response to community feedback and flexibility to innovate at the speed of customer needs.
Challenge/Opportunity
PLS needed to evolve beyond fragmented digital tools that created inefficiencies and inconsistent customer experiences. For years, staff juggled multiple systems to manage events, reservations, and appointments, leading to duplicated efforts and frustration. The organization sought a unified platform that would prioritize intuitive customer experience, integrate seamlessly with existing workflows and the PLS Connect mobile app, provide responsive technical support with rapid feature deployment, and scale with growing community needs. PLS partnered with Phase 2, leveraging their decade-long relationship and deep understanding of library operations, to create Library Connect: a custom solution designed to enhance service delivery, organizational agility, and long-term sustainability. This collaboration represented a strategic investment moving beyond off-the-shelf software limitations to build a platform that could evolve alongside the community it serves.
Key Elements of Innovation
PLS made a strategic build-versus-buy decision, investing in custom technology instead of adapting generic software, giving control over feature development & the ability to design a solution tailored to its community. Development was deeply collaborative, with a staff-led team working alongside Phase 2 developers at every stage. Staff identified service barriers, beta tested, & guided feature priorities through feedback loops to meet staff and customer needs. PLS worked with vendors to open APIs & merge data while protecting privacy. Library Connect unifies events management, room reservations, digital screens, & schedule-a-librarian into one intuitive platform integrated with PLS’s mobile app. Its customer-centered design & branded interface maintain visual continuity with the website, making domain transitions seamless. Customers now easily view all Maker Lab equipment at each location, cost, availability, & directly email requests to learn more and schedule appointments.
Achieved Outcomes
Library Connect has transformed service delivery since launching, reducing daily core systems from six to three, streamlining workflows, & improving efficiency. Library Connect delivers strategic value to PLS and the library field. Direct control over development enables rapid response to community needs. Errors are resolved faster, and already five updates have improved functionality, design, and infrastructure. Staff report higher productivity through consolidated workflows, and customer engagement grows as the seamless, branded experience creates an intuitive path to services. Digital screens now promote unified marketing materials across branches, increasing awareness of events and services. The platform's architecture supports future expansion, ensuring long-term growth. PLS has positioned itself as a sector leader in custom technology adoption, creating a replicable model for other libraries and helping the community reimagine the library.
