The days of having to actually go to the library to reserve, renew or find a certain book are over. The Calcasieu Public Library now has an App that makes all those jobs quick and easy no matter where you are.

Want to renew a book or place one on hold? There's an app for that. Library hours or locations? There's an app for that. Download an eBook? Find information fast? There's an app for that, too.

The Calcasieu Parish Public Library has announced that the library system recently launched a mobile app to put the library at your fingertips.

Library officials say from any mobile phone connected to the internet, you can instantly tap into library resources, anytime, anywhere. You can search the library catalog, check your account, ask a question, find events and more, according to officials.

To access the library's mobile app, search Calcasieu Library in your phone's market and download the app.

"Everyone lives on their mobile phones these days, so it's important for the library to be easily accessible whenever and wherever people need access to our staff and rich resources," says Judy Davidson, Public Information Officer. "Our mobile app puts library information just one click away with much faster access than going through a browser. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this new way to use the library by downloading our app."

Searching the catalog with the mobile app is especially easy, officials say. Just type the first few letters of two or three words and search results will begin to appear. For example, if you're looking up Mark Twain in the catalog, just type "ma twa." Once you find the title you're looking for, you can place it on hold right from your phone.

Davidson says the app offers features in addition to being able to search for books, CDs or DVDs in the library. BookLook Mobile is a feature that lets you scan an ISBN barcode anywhere you are to see if the library owns the title. "This is an amazing feature," says Davidson. If you're at a bookstore you can just scan the ISBN, see if we own it and—if we do—place a hold on it right from your phone."

The library's mobile app was developed by Boopsie Inc. More than 250 libraries and universities use Boopsie to increase campus and community visibility. Easy to implement and affordable for all size libraries, Boopsie solves the problem of unwieldy website viewing on a small screen.

For more information on the library's new mobile app, visit www.calcasieulibrary.org  or contact the library at 337-721-7118.

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