EVERETT – In just a few weeks, half a million dollars worth of improvements will kick in at the Everett Public Library.
Most library patrons will only notice it if they pause to hear the constant whirring of computers.
“We were nervous that the old system would fail before the new one came up,” library director Mark Nesse said.
The library’s current catalog system, installed in 1995, has been a mere computer crash away from permanent meltdown for more than a year.
Had that happened, most of the library’s services, including checking out books and searching the catalog, would have been impossible.
A library-wide crash is still possible before the new system is ready, but as the Dec. 15 launch nears, Nesse’s worried frown is slowly being replaced by a relieved grin.
“This new system is durable,” he said. “That’s the biggest change that library borrowers will never see.”
A decision early this year to replace the library’s system sparked a region-wide search for alternatives.
Librarians visited libraries throughout Washington and Oregon to experiment with other catalog programs before settling on Polaris, a Windows-based system. Nesse expects the project to fall under the $584,000 budget by completing the system installation weeks earlier than initially scheduled.
The new system could last well beyond 10 years, Nesse said.
Library patrons with an eye for detail can expect to see new book lists and options to browse the library’s vast collection of books, compact discs, the Internet and more through one search. A catalog search screen will be available in Spanish, and the overall operation of the search tools will be faster.
Library patrons will be able to view a list of the materials they’ve checked out.
The new system isn’t expected to be difficult to use, assistant director and head of research Eileen Simmons said.
“For people who are regularly using the Internet, it won’t feel like they have to learn something all over again,” she said.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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