12 September 2013. Two neighbouring councils have selected Capita's software service business to deliver a new shared library management system. Working together, Gloucestershire County Council and Swindon Borough Council will use Capita's library management software to provide staff with user-friendly and up-to-date library systems, and their customers with greater access to increasingly intuitive library services.
Both councils have worked with Capita to develop a powerful and accessible online catalogue in order to promote the full wealth of stock and formats available to members, including eBooks. For customers of Gloucestershire County Council, this will be the first time they will have access to the county's archive collection, be able join the library (generating an automatic temporary borrower status), reserve books and pay any fines via the library's website, improving the overall self-service experience.
Sue Laurence, head of library services at Gloucestershire County Council said: "We wanted a library system that would give customers better choice and more ways to access our services, at the same time as delivering greater value for local tax payers. Working together with Swindon we are doing just that, saving over a quarter of a million over the life of the contract."
Capita will manage and maintain the core system used by both councils via its fully hosted next generation library management system (LMS), Chorus. With no need for any on-premise servers, costs will be reduced for both councils. Further efficiencies will be delivered through integration between the LMS and core council systems, including finance and payments.
Partnering with Capita and selecting Chorus will allow the councils to share a library IT infrastructure, while retaining local work practices and policies allowing each other to best serve their own customers' unique needs.
Launched earlier this year, Capita's next generation cloud-based web application, Soprano, will also be used to provide greater flexibility for the councils. The application allows day-to-day tasks to be completed using mobile devices, which will deliver a faster and increasingly efficient service for customers.
Allyson Jordan, service manager for arts and libraries at Swindon Borough Council added: "We have been very impressed at every stage of the integration process. Whether helping customers with queries out on the library floor or signing up new library users at external events, we are confident that our staff and customers will reap the rewards that this technology offers. "
Karen Reece, head of libraries at Capita, said: "We understand the desire of libraries to use technology to cost effectively transform the offering both for staff and citizens and make services more accessible to users. We have been able to draw on our wealth of experience of being able to tailor systems to meet the specific requirements of each council. We are extremely pleased to be building on our existing relationship with Gloucestershire County Council and embarking on our new relationship with Swindon Borough Council."
Capita's software services business attributes its position as the leading supplier of software solutions to the public sector, education and housing marketplace to its strong partnership approach. It works closely with customers to provide tailored systems in the disciplines of library management systems, customer services, mobile technology, payment collection, income management, integrated housing management, revenues and benefits processing and services and policy training. Capita's customers benefit from a bespoke service, helping them to streamline their processes and deliver a high performance customer-centric service.
Further information regarding Capita's suite of library solutions can be found at: www.capita.co.uk/libraries
Capita plc is the UK's leading provider of business process management and integrated professional support service solutions. With 52,500 people at more than 350 sites, including 70 business centres across the UK, Europe, India and South Africa, the Group uses its expertise, infrastructure and scale benefits to transform its clients' services, driving down costs and adding value. Capita is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (CPI.L), and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 with 2012 revenue of £3.3 billion and profit before tax of £426 million. Further information on Capita plc can be found at: www.capita.co.uk.
