Community Virtual Library originally created a library of resources for Nonprofit Commons (NPC) many years ago. In 2018, it was given a makeover by Bree Theodore (jodielandon in Second Life) that made sure the library hosted a growing collection of resources relevant to nonprofits. Additionally, it has served as the location for the annual Nonprofit Commons Community Harvest event in November of each year.
Now, in 2025, with many additional resources available to nonprofits and to support advances in technology, Community Virtual Library and Nonprofit Commons formed a partnership to update and refresh the library. Not only did the project aim to update resource and social links, but it also aimed to make the user experience more seamless at this self-serve location. Collaborating with the Nonprofit Commons made sure that changes that were put in place best served the focus population, and get a clear understanding of the community. This is the second in the series of posts about those updates, the focus this time on the lounge area.
Updates to the Welcome Area
When the project began, it had a bell that could page people since the resources are currently self-staffed. However, nothing made it clear that the button was no more than decorative. A sign to prompt people that it could be pushed for in-world help was added.
The other issue is that many of the wall signs that linked to information about Nonprofit Commons were out of date and set up in such a way that it was not easy to do a simple link swap. New signage with updated links was put into place.
Another issue is that the empty bookcase (which cannot have items linked to it as designed) actually is a hidden door to the Community Virtual Library’s satellite office in the back portion of the building. Signage reading Community Virtual Library has been placed above the bookcase to try and make it clear that clicking the bookcase will take you somewhere. However, as shown in the May 2025 update, there is also an exterior entrance from the back side to that portion of the building.
Improvements to the Lounge
When work first began on the lounge, it felt cluttered and not user friendly. The larger goals were to make it more interactive as well as less cluttered. Even after a lot of the excess was removed, it was decided to change the lounge furniture completely so that more avatars could be accommodated. Originally, it was matched to the colors of the prior furniture as shown.
After some consideration, it was decided to change the colors of the couch and chairs to fit in more with the Nonprofit Commons theme.
As it also shows in this shot, there is now an area with videos above the mantle. Clicking that goes to the playlist of recorded Nonprofit Commons presentations that are gathered in a playlist, for easy in-world access.
It was decided to distribute information about the Virtual Education Journal, even though VEJ also has an office at Nonprofit Commons. A sign in the corner provides easy in-world click-through access to the Virtual Education Journal while taking advantage of the lounge. Clicking on the sign opens up to the webpage of the full selection of issues. This serves as a great way to help cross-promote various Nonprofit Commons members while providing quick access to information, which is consistent with the mission of the Nonprofit Commons and Community Virtual Library partnership.
The final installment of this series will take an in-depth look at the transformation of the resource room, located behind the welcome desk.
About Nonprofit Commons
Nonprofit Commons is a community-led project, currently sponsored by AvaCon, Inc., a US 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit organization. Nonprofit Commons was designed to lower the barriers of access to technologies like virtual worlds, to create a community of practice for nonprofits to explore, learn, and to investigate the many ways in which nonprofits might utilize these unique environments. Through this community, NPC provides free office space to qualifying groups, host virtual networking events and weekly community meetings sharing best practices, workshops, and other peer-led professional learning.
About Community Virtual Library
Community Virtual Library strives to create a real (albeit virtual) library for digital citizens, fostering community building and virtual networking for librarians. It is a “real” virtual world library maintained by information professionals which supports the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium and digital citizens seeking information across the metaverse. Community Virtual Library is part of Metaverse Libraries, which is dedicated to “real libraries in virtual environments,” such as the CVL Nonprofit Resource Library at Nonprofit Commons.