Bnetwork: an integrated platform for online communication with the public library network

Utilizing the power of the written word, the Royal Library, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB) contributes to a smarter, more skilled and more creative country. Koninklijke Bibliotheek does this together with many partners in the field of public libraries, heritage and science.

As the national library, KB makes the library collection in The Netherlands visible, usable and sustainable. The free access to this joint ownership of publicly funded libraries ensures that people are inspired to new ideas and can build on each other's insights.

Koninklijke Bibliotheek wanted to improve the KB's online communication with the various target groups in their network, such as public libraries, provincial support institutes and partners. “We want to make the information, now residing in 22 different channels, more accessible for these target groups so that our partners are better informed and can find information faster. We want to make it clearer what the KB does with the network. In addition, as KB we want to realize tactical operational benefits with more cooperation between the editors, less duplicate content and lower development, hosting and management costs for these channels. An important precondition is that the website complies with WCAG 2.1 level AA.”

As a result, a new platform has been created (Bnetwork) in which the content of the various sites in the public library professional network is made accessible in a role-based, intuitive manner. This enables KB to:

- have a central and future proof communication platform (tested by target groups) which can be further developed;

- continuously reduce the number of sites and improve knowledge sharing in the public library domain;

- be inclusive to people with disabilities, making sure the platform is and stays WCAG 2.1 level AA (automated testing in CI/CD and tested by real live people with disabilities).

Jacqueline Duerinck, project lead at KB:

“Proud of the new website Bnetwerk of the Royal Library for all employees and partners of the Library Network! Great result, achieved in collaboration with Silva Tensen, all colleagues of KB and developers of Finalist.”