Next time you stop dead in your tracks and realize the due date for the book you checked out from the library is about to pass, all you have to do is reach into your pocket to push it back.

Earlier this month the Lawrence Public Library launched a new mobile app for its collection of books and other items, allowing users to pay fines, renew items, rate and review titles and check on their holds.

“Basically, you can carry around the library in your pocket,” said Jeni Daley, the library’s spokesperson.

The free app is available for iPhone and Android devices and also accompanied the launching of a new online catalog with the same features for computers. The two formats were created by BiblioCommons, a Toronto-based software developer that builds mobile apps for libraries across the U.S. and Canada, including the Olathe Public Library and Johnson County Library.

The app features a smooth interface that lets users scroll across a queue of recently reviewed titles, browse the library’s collection for an item’s availability and make sharable lists of books.

As of Friday, the mobile app had amassed nearly 400 downloads since its Oct. 1 debut.

“It seems like this is something people have really been waiting for,” Daley said. “It was always kind of difficult to use our catalog just from a browser on a smartphone or tablet.

“Now, it just makes it much more functional and easier to use.”

Indeed, the lone review of the app in the iPhone’s App Store, by a user named Ogthar, is titled: “Just what I wanted.”