GURNEE, Ill. (Feb. 11, 2000) The Warren-Newport Public Library, which serves citizens in two northern Illinois townships, has selected Sirsi Corporation's UnicornLibrary Management System to provide an easy-to-use, web-based online catalog for its users. According to Lynn Stainbrook, director, "Unicorn was the unanimous choice of our 20-person selection committee. SIRSI's WebCat online catalog was the most user-friendly, flexible, and adaptable of all the ones demonstrated, and had by far the most powerful search capabilities."

Stainbrook and staff introduced the Unicorn system to the public in late December. "We circulated more than 3,000 items on the first day and haven't stopped," Stainbrook commented. "Our bookmobile staff members were particularly impressed with their increased ability to serve users quickly. Previously, they had to store checkout data in a laptop, then come back to the main library and download the information. With the SIRSI system, they are now able to register library users, check out and discharge items in real time, and even search for titles and place holds."

Library users and staff members are also pleased with Unicorn's advanced search capabilities, Stainbrook noted. "Because we were introducing a new system, we anticipated a lot of requests for help with searches. However, our users have been able to perform even advanced searches in WebCat without assistance. The design of the search screens make it very easy for them."

Established in 1973 in a rented building stocked with 3,000 volumes, the Warren-Newport Public Library now includes a digital interactive video wall, Internet access at 26 public access stations, a quiet reading room with a fireplace, a café, and a used book store. The library circulates approximately 1 million items annually to its 40,000 registered borrowers, and its collection contains more than 161,000 items.

SIRSI, the leader in library technology, is a privately held company founded in 1979, with headquarters in Huntsville, Ala. SIRSI uses the most advanced technology available to provide easy-to-use information systems for libraries, businesses and archives. With offices in major U.S. cities and subsidiaries in Australia, Canada, Latin America, the Middle East, the Peoples Republic of China and the United Kingdom, the company has established its Unicorn products as the leading client/server library information systems in the world.