Sloggin' to the finish line

Pant, pant, pant! I only have a little bit to go! Well, it seems like more than a little bit, and I can't do much where I am (and without the mp3 player), but I can look at another library's website. I chose Anderson County, out of the blue, but it seemed reasonable because I had been there and perhaps could match up what I know about the library with the website. I might try a totally unknown library later.
Ahem. Okay, ours is prettier. I like the greens and the orderliness of it, but the attractiveness of our main page isn't all about my sensibilities, is it?
Their page is white, with two, count'em, two moving marquees (going over holiday closings and hours). I hate that. My old eyes get distracted by these things. That's what makes those news channels sooooo annoying. What do you do? Listen to them or read the spate of news orts that waves relentlessly at the bottom of the screen?
Also, while our main page is our catalog/search page, theirs is used mostly for advertising/highlighting their programming, such as their live homework help (which we also have), the Foundation Center (a collection of materials/websites for grant writing), their expansion program (with a link to pictures - now, there's an idea for us later!), audiobook downloads (where will our info be when we're ready?), and something called Heritage Quest ... which I discovered we have as well. That must have been discussed at a meeting on a day I overslept. Or else it just fell out the other ear.
Here's something interesting, they put a button with a link to information about their Friends. There's a whole page about what the Friends do and how to become one ($5 and up). They also list their periodicals. Nice feature. They still have the Gates configurations on the Children's Room computers, or else they've forgotten to take that info down. When was the last time we checked all our info to make sure it was up to date?
The CR at Anderson has an after school program called "Library Bookworms" to enhance reading skills, or put even more pressure on kids. It doesn't really explain what is involved. I might be interested in that - when we have more room at the library.
I don't see a blog, but they have a site map where all the pages are visible (which is handy when you are doing what I am, which is investigating the site itself).
I think we have a very good site. The difference seems to be that we let patrons attack the catalog right off and they use their main page for advertising their features/programming. I think our website is restrained and dignified, while theirs is a bit busier. I don't think I would want our site to be so busy, but we have so much available to the public (besides books) that they might not know about. Perhaps we could highlight a feature a month on the main page.
Oh, look! There's an "Employment" button! Hey! They have a job opening for a branch manager! Oh, never mind. Only $22,000/yr. Not worth the hassle.