Both locations of Southwest Public Libraries, the Grove City Library and the Westland Area Library, will be closed from Friday May 17 through Tuesday, May 21 to transition to a new Integrated Library System (ILS). The SPL Board of Trustees voted last fall to join the Central Library Consortium and will make the change from Discovery Place to Polaris Library Systems. The current Discovery Place ILS has been in place since 1985.
According to SPL Director Mark Shaw, the decision was made to close because SPL will not have access to patron information or the catalog of books and audiovisual materials. In addition, SPL will use the closed period to install new computer equipment which will be used to access the new system.
Immediately after the libraries close on Thursday, May 16, the data conversion will begin and will continue through the following Tuesday. The conversion process to enable Polaris to access patron and library material information will be an extremely complex task involving 3 million item records and 1 million patron records. SPL staff members will report to work during the closure to prepare for the launch of the new system.
During these five days, returns of library materials will not be accepted since they cannot be checked in. Library patrons will not be fined for materials that are due during this period. Both locations will reopen for business on Wednesday morning, May 22 at 9:30 AM.
When SPL reopens, patrons will have access to a million more items and a computer system with state-of-the-art features. In addition to SPL, Central Library Consortium members include Alexandria Public Library, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Fairfield County Library, Grandview Heights Public Library, Marysville Public Library, Pickaway County Library, Pickerington Public Library, Plain City Public Library, Wagnalls Memorial Library and Worthington Libraries.
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