Washington Parish Library Gets Digital Upgrade, Tiered Cards for Children Give Parents More Control

Last week, the Washington Parish Library converted their online catalog to a new and exciting platform.  BookSystems offers library users the option to receive email and text notification about their items—and allows them to rate the items they’ve read in the catalog!  It also has an interface just for kids!  In order to take advantage of this, library users must update their contact information to include an email and/or a cell phone number on their account.  Most importantly, BookSystems is less expensive and has more bells and whistles that library users have requested.  There will even be an app in the very near future!

Another important reason WPL has converted systems involves La Act 436 (2023 reg), which requires all public libraries in the state to offer a tiered library card system for children.  Parents can choose the level of access their child has to the library when they fill out a library card application.  There are three options to begin with:

1. Restricted Juvenile only allows the child to check out items from the Juvenile Collection.
2. Semi-Restricted Juvenile allows the child to check out items from both the Juvenile and the YA Collections.
3. Unrestricted Juvenile allows the child to have full access to all of the books in the library, including the Adult Collection.

In addition to these tiers, parents may also decide whether or not their child can access our eBook/eAudiobook platform, CloudLibrary.  Parents already had the option to allow their children to use the library computers to access the internet or to restrict their children from that access.  At any time, parents may come in and fill out another form if they wish to change the tier they originally chose for their children.  This new system gives parents even more control over how their children use the Washington Parish Library.

Act 436 comes into effect on June 1, 2024, so all Juvenile cards have been labeled as restricted until a parent comes in and fills out the form with the level of access appropriate for their child.  We would love to see parents come in before the summer to get their children’s library accounts squared away.  Stop by your favorite branch and update your (and your child’s) information today!