New library software will serve you better

WINSTED — The Beardsley & Memorial Library will be closed until noon on Tuesday, April 13, to allow staff to test the organization’s new library automation system.

The library usually opens every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. But next week the staff will use the free morning to work with new computer software.

The new system — designed and published by TLC’s Library Solutions — will enable library patrons to create online accounts, renew materials, use social networking features such as list sharing and reader reviews, request books and other items, and allow parents to manage their children’s accounts from home.

It will also feature a more user-friendly search screen, as well as a more robust and powerful search engine database.

In addition, articles and content featured in magazines and books will now be searchable through the library’s catalog. Currently, patrons can only pull up the listing for a periodical or book, and not an inventory of the content within them.

Over the past several weeks, library staff members have been working to install the new Web site and network, as well as attending training sessions to familiarize themselves with the new computer system.

The total purchase price for the program was $50,000. That amount includes the software itself, as well as memory upgrades required to run the program on the library’s computers and staff training.

No taxpayer money was used for the purchase of the software. Instead, the project was funded through grants, including a $35,000 award from the Danbury-based Praxair Foundation as part of its “Library Links†program.

The Beardsley & Memorial Library is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from  10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information about the library, visit
beardsleyandmemorial.org.

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