Edward River Library, a Libero customer since 2002, has been recognised for their recent successful community initiatives with the Diversity & Inclusion award for 2024. Through Edward River Library's targeted outreach program, the library identified an opportunity to improve access to services, especially for rural and housebound residents in their region.

Edward River did this by reintroducing their Call & Collect service, initially provided during lockdown, after recognising that not all members could easily access the library.

Call & Collect is designed so that members can check the library's online catalogue to see if the items they would like are available. They can also reserve items if they are currently on loan by either calling or emailing the library. Once the items are ready for collection, library staff will then select and bundle the loan and notify the member that it is ready.

"The news about the library's award reminded our team just how proud we are of our work. We feel honoured to have received the Diversity and Inclusion Award from Libero. When one of the team suggested we start a Call & Collect service, I immediately saw how valuable it would be for our community. This new service has turned out to be a wonderful complement to our Books on Wheels program for those who can't make it to the library," said Library Co-ordinator, Christine Evola.

Enhancing Library Operations with Libero 6

To understand more about how important Libero is to Edward River Library, we asked Christine about the systems' role in their success, their move to cloud, and the features that have made things even better for their staff and members.

As a long-time valued customer of Libero, how important is the system to the successful operations of your library and why?

"If the system does not operate, we cannot provide the key features and services of our library to our members. It is imperative that the LMS is user-friendly and doesn't have errors/problems.

With Libero, we have a highly reliable and user-friendly interface that ensures we can support our community with access to our catalogue and services."

How would you describe the transition to cloud with Libero?

"Easy – the Libero team updated it and did all the administration – it was a good experience."

What are the Libero features and functionality that are most valuable to your library and why?

"The most valuable feature for us that Libero provides is being able to search the catalogue via multiple options. (If it were only an option to search by title that would make it more challenging when a customer doesn't know the whole title name)

Producing reports and the great insights they provide for library decision making. It's also not complicated to add new members.

The fact that the software works, and we rarely reach out for support, allows my team to focus on supporting our community, not on trying to be IT support."

About Edward River Library

Edward River Library is based in Deniliquin, New South Wales. Edward River Library aims to provide a library service that ensures free access to recreational and educational materials derived from sources representing a range of preferences and views, and to encourage an aware and participative community. Their services are based on the core values of quality, efficiency, relevance, and accountability.

Website: https://www.edwardriver.nsw.gov.au/Community/Library

Catalogue: https://edwardriver.libero.com.au/libero/WebOpac.cls

About Libero, by Knosys

Libero is the all-in-one library management system for elevating library success and delivering the best experiences for both members and staff.

Developed by librarians in collaboration with industry experts, Libero is the secure cloud-based solution enabling accessibility and seamless interaction across all your devices.

Learn more about Libero by visiting www.libero.com.au