A new app at the Cranberry Public Library is set to bring all the functionality of a library card into a digital format.

The app, which officially went live Monday, is free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

“You don’t need to have a library card to use it,” said Jon Clendaniel, development and communications manager at the library. “Anyone can download it. It is probably more useful for library card holders, because it has a lot of stuff you can do, like putting things on hold or managing your account, but there is a link to apply for a library card online if you don’t have one, and you can access that through the app as well.”

The app allows patrons to log in with their library card number to renew items, search the library catalog and put items on hold. It also contains links to resources such as Libby, Hoopla and Consumer Reports. A mobile checkout feature allows library visitors to scan an item’s bar code and check it out to their account without going to the circulation desk.

“They still need to desensitize the item before leaving the library, because otherwise it will set off the alarm at the library’s front door,” Clendaniel said. “I’m sure there’s going to be a learning curve with that with people, because they won’t know to do that at first, but once we get through that early learning curve, I think it’s going to be a really smooth process.”

The app can also function as a “digital library card” that can be scanned at the desk.

“With any service we offer, there is learning and teaching until people get used to it, but Cranberry and our service population are pretty tech-savvy, I think they’ll catch on pretty quickly,” library director Leslie Pallotta said.

The idea for the program began approximately two years ago, Pallotta said, and a surplus in the library’s collection fund this year meant the library could make the plan a reality. Butler Area Public Library and Mars Area Public Library both already have library apps.

Physical library cards still will be in circulation and issued, Clendaniel clarified.

“This is just a way to supplement physical library cards,” he said. “It’s giving people another option as far as how they can interact with the library, check out items and manage their account. It’s basically another point of access for people for the library.”

Pallotta added that Cranberry’s library card sign-up numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“We average about 150 new cardholders per month, which is actually very, very high,” she said. “Due to the fact that Cranberry is a growing community, people move to the area, and they come and get a library card. We are incredibly pleased with that amount.”