HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 23, 2001) Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) in Colorado Springs, Colo., which has won numerous awards for customer service and users' programs, has selected SIRSI's iBistro Electronic Library and Unicorn Library Management System to provide an automation system that is easy to use for both library staff and library users. According to Patrick A. Losinki, PPLD director, Unicorn and iBistro will enable PPLD to continue its tradition of providing users immediate access to the materials and resources they need, both within the library and from sources accessible electronically.
Established in 1905 in a Carnegie-funded facility as the Colorado Springs Public Library, the PPLD now comprises 11 branches and two bookmobiles. During 2000, PPLD served more than 2 million people and achieved an all-time record - 4,043,000 - for the number of items checked out to library users. During 2000, PPLD also won the Colorado Springs Better Business Bureau's Excellence in Customer Service Award and the Colorado Library Association's award for the best summer reading club in Colorado. In January 2001, PPLD's Community Relations Office was honored with the American Library Association's John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award for their promotion of a Friends of the Library fundraiser to help restore the historic Carnegie library.
The Pikes Peak Library District chose the SIRSI products for a number of reasons, according to IT Officer Bob Pasicznyuk: “While there are several credible library systems, only SIRSI's iBistro e-library offered elegant solutions to meet our customers' expectations. We were looking for (1) patron self-management services that enable patrons to access account information and place holds, transfers, and renewals by phone and the Web, (2) enriched catalog content that add images, reviews, Web resources, and tables of content to our library's high-quality bibliographic information, and (3) unique communication tools that enable us to inform our patrons when the materials they prefer are acquired. iBistro enables us to do all this, as well as market our collection via phone, mail, email, and the Web by constructing customized item lists,” said Pasicznyuk.
“Beyond iBistro, we needed a company that could work with us to meet local demands without spoiling the integrity of the integrated library system package. SIRSI worked hard at understanding our needs. They often found ways of meeting our needs within the existing software's framework, and added some customizations quickly and professionally. They also steered us toward organizational changes that help us exploit their system to our customers' advantage,” Pasicznyuk concluded.
SIRSI, the leader in library technology since 1979, delivers advanced software and services for libraries around the globe. By providing the industry's most complete library management infrastructure and unique solutions for capitalizing on the power, speed, and versatility of the Internet, SIRSI and our clients are changing the way the world shares knowledge.
