Oct. 13, 2011 -- Inwood, WV. A media specialist in British Columbia is praising The Library Corporation for its professionalism and efficiency during her school district's recent implementation of Library.Solution for Schools.
Suzanne Hall, district librarian at Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Schools during the ILS transition process, said the upgrade was a daunting task. "We went from a library situation where we had 28 standalone libraries, so they had their own collections, their own cataloging systems. In a lot of cases, they had their own library systems. It was a complete disaster.
"To move to a union catalog was huge – huge amount of work, huge amount of organization," Hall said. "The work that your company did around that was amazing. The fact that they took that huge amount of data and worked with it was amazing."
Hall, who has since transferred to an Aboriginal Education teaching position in the 16,000-student school district, said Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Schools had been using an ILS developed in British Columbia that staff and students found difficult to work with. When it was time to upgrade, she said, the district chose TLC because it "had the program that was the best mix of easy-to-use for the librarians and great front-end product for the kids."
In late March, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Schools launched its new Library.Solution for Schools ILS, which includes the Web-based LS2 Circ circulation module. The district also implemented TLC's LS2 PAC and LS2 Kids.
Even though school was still in session when the new automation system launched, "The transition process went really, really well," Hall said. She attributes that success to TLC's team of implementation and training professionals. "Woody (Woodsmall, director of customer assurance for TLC's Inwood operations) made a comment in one of the initial meetings that what you guys really sell is customer service – you just throw in the software. I laughed, but he was right. The customer service is unbelievable."
The software has been warmly received by staff and students. "We got great response," Hall said. "The kids love it, the teachers love it." LS2 PAC is now being used by the district's middle and high school students, while the younger elementary students "have no problem" using LS2 Kids to explore their school libraries.
Hall said she is happy to recommend TLC to other libraries, especially if they are moving from a standalone system to a union catalog. "We've just been so impressed with the company and the products and the customer service, from the product owners to everyone else," she said. "It's just been great."
TLC was founded in 1974 to create technology for libraries and school districts of all sizes, including some of the busiest libraries in the world. TLC's library automation, cataloging, and selection and acquisition products are all backed by an unparalleled level of customer support and assistance. For more information on TLC, contact Lisa Prodywus at lisap@TLCdelivers.com, call 1.800.325.7759, or visit www.TLCdelivers.com.