LA GRANDE — Cook Memorial Library in La Grande recently announced a new logo to go along with a revamped website and brand identity.

The new design is set to create a more modern and welcoming feel, while the library will continue to provide the same reliable services and values.

The new branding strives to incorporate the natural surroundings of La Grande into the library’s logos. The blue represents rivers, while the yellow stands for fields and the green signifies pines.

“The library really didn’t have an identity prior to this logo,” said Cook Memorial Library Director Kip Roberson. “I think it makes the library more visible and signals us out if somebody is really interested in what the library is doing.”

Francine Brazeau, a Pacific Northwest-based graphic designer, worked with Roberson and the library staff to brainstorm the new brand identity. The team decided on features that represent La Grande rather than specific aspects of the library.

“We went through the list of things that are readily identifiable with La Grande,” Roberson said. “I think there were about four or five design rounds.”

The most notable of the changes is the library logo, which includes three side-by-side open books. Inside the books are the Grande Ronde River, golden wheat fields and ponderosa pines.

Three slogans coincide with the design of the logo: “Growing readers since 1912,” “Knowledge grows here” and “Information flows here.” The library first began servicing La Grande in 1912.

“We certainly have a presence in the community, but we didn’t have something to identify us,” Roberson said, adding the new logo makes Cook Memorial “stand apart from the other libraries around us.”

Cook Memorial Library users will receive new library cards with updated logos and branding. The library gradually introduced the new branding over the past few months and is phasing out the previous logos.