Student capstone · In development. This project continues the 2025–26 Friends of the Poway Library prototype. It is a student-built concept and is not the official Friends of the Poway Library or San Diego County Library website.

Friends of the Poway Library · 2026–2027
One useful home for the library community

A continuation of the previous website redesign, focused on helping visitors discover used books, find events, support the organization, and return for community resources and activities.

Experience: discover → explore → participate → support → return

Friends of the Poway Library capstone project

Project focus: bookstore discovery, event access, newsletters, history, volunteering, donations, member profiles, and interactive games.




Core experience

Four connected parts of the visitor journey, from discovering what the Friends offer to supporting and revisiting the organization.

01 · Browse the bookstore

Search and filter the bookstore catalog so visitors can discover available books before coming to the library.

02 · Find events and news

View upcoming events and past newsletters in one place without leaving the Friends website.

03 · Participate and support

Make volunteer opportunities, contact information, and the planned donation flow easier to find and use.

04 · Learn and return

Explore the library's history and use library-themed games, profiles, and leaderboards that give visitors reasons to come back.



From problem to product direction

Why we are building it
Previous challenge

Visitors could not browse bookstore inventory online, events lived on a separate county library site, direct online donations were unavailable, and the site offered few interactive reasons to return.

Project direction

Continue the prototype as a modern, community-facing website that brings the bookstore catalog, events, newsletters, organizational history, support pathways, and interactive features into one consistent experience.



Feature foundation from 2025–26

Searchable catalog

A bookstore inventory experience with search and filtering for easier book discovery.

Events and newsletters

An embedded events calendar and a place to read past newsletters and community updates.

History and service

An interactive timeline, volunteer information, contact tools, and a planned donation pathway.

Games and profiles

Six library-themed games supported by user profiles and leaderboards.



System flow

The inherited prototype provides a starting point for a connected full-stack experience.

One connected community workflow
1 · Visitor interface

Jekyll pages and JavaScript present the catalog, calendar, newsletters, history, games, and support pathways.

2 · User actions

Visitors search, filter, sign in, manage a profile, play games, volunteer, contact the organization, or begin a donation.

3 · Flask services

Backend APIs support data-driven features and connect the frontend experience to stored information.

4 · Community value

Visitors can plan bookstore trips, stay informed, participate more easily, and keep returning to the site.



Technical foundation

Frontend

Jekyll, HTML, and JavaScript for the public site and interactive visitor features.

Backend

Python Flask services for data-backed workflows and REST API endpoints.

Data

Structured records for catalog items, events, users, profiles, game results, and future support workflows.

Continuation goal

Review the inherited code, confirm nonprofit priorities, and turn the strongest prototype features into a maintainable product direction.



Project handoff

The 2026–27 capstone starts from the work and documentation created by the previous student team.

2026–27 team

Current project team
Arjun Ganesh

Scrum Master

Nathan Trieu

Developer 1

Raadin Ansari

Developer 2


2025–26 prototype team

Original project contributors
Shayan Bhatti
Arnav Pallapotu
Tanay Paranjpe