Sugar Grove library gets new logo, works toward revamped website

SUGAR GROVE – The Sugar Grove Public Library has a new logo that features a sugar maple in earth tones with branches that form the arms over the faces of patrons.

Executive Director Shannon Halikias said the old one, which looked like the side windows of the library, had no real meaning unless the person viewing it already knew what the library looks like.

“A logo needs to convey a thought or a concept to the person who looks at it,” Halikias said. “We have the maples of Sugar Grove and the faces of patrons. They don’t pop out at first, but you see them as the faces and the branches of the tree, that represents the arms of our patrons. And the leaves of the maple are leaves of a book, too.”

The logo came from an open competition on a service called crowdSPRING for graphic design. The library district paid a $48 fee, provided a narrative of what staff and board members were looking for and then received 95 design concepts from 43 graphic artists, Halikias said.

After choosing the top three, library officials narrowed it to the one they eventually chose and paid the artist $300, she said. The district decided to use this service after a manager attended a marketing and communications seminar as part of professional development, she said.

“The nice thing is if we didn’t find a project we liked, we would not have to pay the award,” Halikias said. “It was better than putting up hundreds of dollars and not liking what they did.”

The new logo is part of a whole restructuring of the library's outdated Web page at www.sugargrove.lib.il.us, she said. The current design has a lot of blue and little pictures, and it's "really hard to find anything."

“Our current Web page was created about 2009, and the version of technology we are using is 6 years old. It’s very, very, very dated and difficult for staff to update because it’s old,” Halikias said. “The goal is a user-friendly site that is easy for staff to put new content on. Currently, it’s an ordeal.”

The new website will have a new, shorter Web address, sgpl.org, she said. The redesigned website should be easy for patrons and the public to view everything from the library’s hours to paying fines, checking the catalog and viewing financial documents, agendas and minutes of the library board, she said.

At the earliest, the new Web page could be ready in late spring next year because the staff is going to do most of the work, using a free software, she said.

Some aspects that are too technical will have to be outsourced she said.

“If anyone wants to assist and take this on a project, contact me at 630-466-4684 and take us on,” Halikias said. “We are happy to accept help.”