SYRACUSE, New York, June 10, 2002 – Gaylord Information Systems (GIS) announced today that the Clinton-Macomb Public Library (Michigan) has contracted to replace its one-year old, shared Sirsi automation system with the Polaris integrated library system. Library Director Christine Lind Hage said that Gaylord's commitment to customer service, approach to developing significant vendor partnerships, and the seamless integration of subsystems and third-party products were the key factors that drove the library's ten member staff committee to select Polaris.
Located outside of Detroit, the Clinton-Macomb Public Library serves the 141,535 residents of Clinton and Macomb townships from a temporary main library building and two branches. An 82,000 square foot new main library is scheduled to open in fall 2003. Since 1999 the library has doubled its circulation every year. In 2001 they circulated 523,000 from a collection of 125,000 items. “Our library has experienced tremendous growth in the past three years, leading us to adopt more automated solutions in our two new branches and in planning our new main library,” Hage said. “We are installing Tech Logic automated check in, sorting and 24-hour check out in the main library so it was important that the vendor of our new automation system be able to support these capabilities. Gaylord showed us they could integrate their system with Tech Logic and were willing to partner with us to develop the 24-hour check out machine. Their responsiveness to this need was a critical factor in our decision to select Polaris,” she added.
During the selection process Clinton-Macomb staff talked to Polaris customers in four different size libraries. Commented Hage, “With our growth rate we'll be a large library in two years. We wanted to know how Polaris would perform for us as we expand. Talking with customers showed us Polaris and Gaylord would support us now and into the future. We also appreciated Gaylord's strong commitment to public libraries. We felt this was a company we could really partner with to continue developing innovative services that would meet the needs of our library.”
Hage said that the ability to try the system before making a final decision was also important to Clinton-Macomb. Staff had access to demo servers from Gaylord and The Library Corporation, which provided the opportunity to compare the vendors side by side. “Our staff found Polaris to be quite intuitive to use. They were able to work within the system without any training, performing functions in all the subsystems. This ease of use really helped sell us on Polaris.”
The expertise and responsiveness of Gaylord staff during the selection process were also key factors in Clinton-Macomb's decision to move to Polaris. “Throughout the process we were very impressed with the customer service of Gaylord staff,” said Hage. “They really helped our library with workflow analysis and were extremely attentive when we met with them. Their follow through was superb and we were impressed by the fast pace of their development team, particularly with regard to integrating third party products and services. From our perspective they are the industry leaders in the public library marketplace.
Clinton-Macomb plans to go live on Polaris by the end of the year. They will be implementing the system with 109 user licenses.
About Polaris
The Polaris integrated library system facilitates all aspects of library operations by providing innovative workflow solutions packaged in a familiar Windows interface. The Polaris staff client offers a complete solution for acquisitions, collection management, cataloging, circulation, interlibrary loan and serials control. With its object-oriented design and integrated Z39.50 capabilities, Polaris avoids the artificial boundaries common to legacy systems built on a modular framework. It also avoids the costs and downtime associated with installing modules one piece at a time. The Polaris PowerPAC extends this innovation to the end-user by providing a fully customizable library portal to the library's catalog and other library resources, including enhanced bibliographic data such as book images, tables of contents, and reviews. With embedded metasearch capabilities, patrons can search the library's catalog, the web, other library catalogs and Z39.50 databases at one time using one common interface. Today 300 libraries use Polaris every day to serve the information needs of their communities.
About GIS
Headquartered in Syracuse, New York, Gaylord Information Systems is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Provider and the 27-year-old software development division of Gaylord Bros., Inc., a leading supplier and innovator in the library industry for more than a century. In addition to its library automation systems, GIS offers workflow analysis, retrospective conversion and database enhancement services to libraries of all types. Thirty percent of GIS staff is composed of professional librarians, including GIS President Katherine Blauer.
