November 4, 2009

Lehigh Valley Library System (PA) Selects Millennium and Encore

Emeryville, CA—Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Library System (LVLS) announced its selection of the Millennium ILS and Encore as a complete solution for discovery and solid core functionality in a consortium environment. LVLS is replacing a Horizon™ system provided by SirsiDynix, Inc.

Consortia Needs

"We were unanimous in our decision to select Millennium," says Janet Fricker, Executive Director at Bethlehem Area Public Library. "We needed a system that will help us capitalize on the efficiencies of scale offered by our consortium and also support it with the functionality we need."

Barbara Wiemann, Senior Coordinator of Technical Services at Easton Area Public Library adds: "We needed to have a system that not only serves all of the libraries, but also allows each of them to provide its own flavor of service. For the public libraries, we will be able to serve patrons easily regardless of which library card they walk in with. The group also will benefit from customizable features such as serials handling, so that what one library does with serials does not affect the others."

Millennium: The Next Step

Sophistication in an ILS was another deciding factor for the consortium. Says Jennifer Stocker, Library Director of Easton Area Public Library: "In selecting a system, we wanted a strong interface for users and a comfortable set of screens for staff. New products like the AirPAC wireless catalog show that Innovative will best position us for the future."

"We went out and looked at proprietary and open source systems," says Consortium Manager Matt Mackey. "With Millennium saw a product where all the pieces worked together and had a level of completeness that was unmatched."

"Local colleges and universities were users of Millennium and quite knowledgeable about the system, which weighed on our decision," says Linda LaPointe, System Administrator and Head of Technical Services at Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary. "We've seen a depth and sophistication in the Millennium system that will be ideal for our special collections and cataloging."

Encore

All four libraries will use Encore Discovery as the point of search for their library users. Lapointe continues: "We wanted to take a leap forward and offer users the best of library services online. What we've seen of Encore is impressive and it will give us lots of gateways for the material as we deploy the search box around our site."

At Allentown Public Library, Director Kathy Kneiss sees Encore as a new stage for the library user: "Encore puts ease of use first and will be a drastic difference from previous systems. We are looking forward to delivering an online interface that will be instantly understandable by users and does what it is supposed to do for them—get them where they are going quickly and easily."

About Lehigh Valley Library System

Founded a decade ago, The Lehigh Valley Library System is a multi-type library consortium that includes: Allentown Public Library, Bethlehem Area Public Library, Easton Area Public Library, Moravian College, and Moravian Theological Seminary.

Horizon™ is a trademark of SirsiDynix.