Springvale Library and Automation

Well good day!! What lovely weather, the wind has a bit of a chill, but still lovely weather :)

Today I interviewed Karen Eger(Library Director) of the Springvale Public Library about the automation program they have. Below you will find the interview, please read along. . . . . . . . .

Q. What kind of Automation does the library use?

A. We use Follett but an older version. This choice was made before I was on board but I believe the reason was because all of the local schools use this as well as the Goodall Library which we partner with in many areas of service.

Q. What kind of social/physical network services do you have?

A. Our website is very basic we of-course have Internet access and access for patrons to get into their account and place holds on books. We use Overdrive, set up by the State Library for our downloads of audio books, and Marvel database. We are not on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace because we do not have the time or staff for the maintenance.

Q. Are there special features?

A. We have this page called Literature Map you can go to. Anyone can type in an authors name and a balloon effect starts with what other readers have read, it's very fun. We had tried blogging for our teens but they were having problems with log ons and we are so busy that we just couldn't make it work.

Q. Do you see any trends?

A. Oh yes, if we could somehow receive text from our patrons, that would work. We are in an era of younger age groups that no longer are interested in emails. For a library to receive and send texts, that would work greatly. Another area would be to accept credit cards, we have many patrons who would be very interested in paying late fees online but the cost of a small library is just to much to absorb. Larger libraries with a sound budget, I could see but with a small library like ours with tight budgets, it doesn't work for us right now.

Q. What are the responsibilities of the staff for maintenance and using the system? How many computers do you have for use?

A. The entire staff are expected to be able to know and help the patrons with the computer systems. We offer help with privately owned laptops and can give out forms to follow for getting online, but we let them operate their own property. There are 2 of us who work on the website and we understand basic operations of our computer systems. We keep a log for help but if all else fails we call our technician.
We have 23 computers, 14 have Internet stations and we do offer free wireless. Our board was interested in charging for usage of the wireless but like I stated earlier, the cost is just to much for us to even discuss for now.

M. Thank you so much Karen for taking the time for this interview.
K. You're very welcome :)

Well I hope you have enjoyed our time together and are interested in visiting the Springvale Public Library . . . . . . enjoy!