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Library Setting

 

          Our Library is a medium size Public library that participates in the State Library Consortium. Our library serves 40,000 members of our community. We have a collection of 180,000 volumes and materials that circulates about 400,000 transactions annually. Our library is responsible for meeting the informational, educational, recreational, and cultural needs of our community. These goals are achieved through the acquisition of library materials in a variety of formats, access to online resources via the Internet, circulation and reference services, interlibrary loan activities, delivery service to the home bound, creative programs and activities for all age groups. 

          We have a staff of five department heads, plus six staff librarians and twelve employees and paraprofessionals. Four of Librarians are recent MLIS graduates with new and innovative technology wisdom. The Library has five departments: Administration manages general operations, maintains the facility, and coordinates all the policies, programs and activities. Children’s Services provides reference services, programs and activities for children from newborn through elementary grade and their families and selects materials for this age group. Adult Services provides reference services, selects materials and develops programs and activities for teens, adults and senior citizens, including outreach to senior housing units. Technical Services orders, receives and catalogs all library materials for the library’s collection, prepares items for public use and manages the computer system for the library. Circulation checks out materials, checks them back in, re-shelves them in their proper place so they can be found easily, maintains the patron database and collects overdue fines and fees for lost materials.

          We have recently renovated our building to pass building standard codes and have added new computers and technology to provide better services for our Patron.  We have also added two new self check out stations for quick check outs.  Since we have spent a great amount of money on the upgrade of our building and technology, we do not have as big of a budget for a new Library Integrated System. Our budget is around $60,000 to $70,000 for a new Library Integrated System.  We will use the listed criteria to evaluate two vendor ILS softwares and two Opensource ILS software systems.  Based on our evaluations, we will choose one that suites our library's budget and needs.