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Banding together for books
8/15/2012 9:55:40 AM
By Kelly Moore
Splash Staff Writer
Big changes are coming to the Liberty Lake Municipal Library. As the department transitions Tuesday into the Cooperative Information Network (CIN), a consortium of 25 other area libraries, even the most basic library user will see adjustments to services.
"I'm really proud of what we've been able to accomplish by moving into a consortium," Library Director Pamela Mogen said. "We'll still have our autonomy and our own say with how things are run, but we'll be able to work together with all these other libraries to make difficult things easier."
The transition will, among other things, increase titles available to library users, decrease department costs and modify a few library policies.
The most obvious and immediate change for users will be a new library card, issued at the patron's next visit. The new cards will provide full access to any of the CIN libraries, which share titles interchangeably from one library to the next. Advertisement
The new cards also come with additional key-chain toggles to keep access handy. Moving forward, patrons must have a library card present to check out books. Currently, a photo ID suffices with a member number, but that policy will tighten to align with CIN regulations.
A notable benefit of the transition, Mogen said, was access for Liberty Lake patrons to about 500,000 titles - a sizable increase from the 30,000 holdings held at the library.
"That's a big jump," Mogen said laughing. "That'll make more things available to everyone. … Anyway you look at it, it's a positive move."
To navigate the titles, patrons will have to learn the ins and outs of a new website for the catalog system. From the site, readers can search the Liberty Lake library only, or choose to search the entire collection spread across all 26 locations. Should a title be available at another library, patrons can request it to be delivered to Liberty Lake for no additional charge through the website. Under normal circumstances, Mogen said a requested title should take about three days to make it to the library.
The new catalog, along with tutorials on how to search for and reserve titles, can be viewed at http://catalog.cin.bywatersolutions.com/.
Splash photo by Kelly Moore
Liberty Lake Municipal Library Director Pamela Mogen shows a current library card, which will soon be ruled obsolete. Beginning next week, patrons will be issued new Cooperative Information Network (CIN) cards as they come in. The new cards will be valid at all CIN libraries and must be present when checking out books.
How will the CIN transition affect you?
Finding books:
As part of the transition to the CIN, the Liberty Lake Municipal Library will operate with a new catalog. Users may choose to search titles located at the library or search titles located at all 26 locations throughout the network. To explore the new catalog and view tutorials on how to find and reserve books, visit http://catalog.cin.bywatersolutions.com/.
Checking out books:
Users will be issued new cards at their next visit. These cards must be present to check out materials. The new cards can be used at any of the CIN libraries and new books can be checked out for 14 days, all other books for 28 days and magazines and movies for seven days.
Fines and fees:
Fines will be reduced to 10 cents per day with a two-day grace period, however library services will be declined once they're accumulated to $3. Fines are also tallied per person instead of per family.
Requesting titles from other locations:
Requesting books from other libraries will once again be free, including non-CIN libraries. Requesting titles from CIN libraries can be done through the CIN website. Under normal circumstances, titles will be delivered about three days from when it becomes available.
E-books and audio books:
Both resident and non-resident library users will have access to e-book and audio book services, but only residents will be able to use the service through CIN. Non-residents will continue to use the Washington Anytime Library, which is currently used by all patrons, for e-book and audio book services. If non-residents would like access to the CIN e-book and audio book services, a resident CIN card may be purchased at the Post Falls Library for $25 per year.
More changes coming to the library
In addition to changes associated with the CIN transition, library patrons may also keep an eye out for:
Sept. 10: The library will expand hours to be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays. The added hours will supplement the library's current hours of operation Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sept. 13: The Liberty Lake Library Foundation plans to unveil its finished photo-mosaic project at the library. The installation is the culmination of a yearlong fundraiser for the library.
Sometime before Christmas: The city is scheduled to install a covered entryway with ADA-accessible doors. The project is currently listed on the capital facilities plan as 2012 project. |
To join the CIN, the library board also had to make changes to a few policies regarding fees and check-out periods.
According to Mogen, to comply with the CIN, library fines will go down to10 cents a day for all overdue items except hardware like flash drives and e-readers. However, the current two-day grace period will no longer exist. In addition, the services will be cut off sooner to patrons accumulating fines. As opposed to the current $10 limit, the library will only allow $3 of accrued fines before refusing services.
Other policy changes allow patrons to check out books for a longer period of time. Currently, regular books can be checked out for three weeks and renewed for an additional three weeks. The new system bumps both options to four weeks.
Initially, the transition's effect on non-resident users was unclear, but Mogen said these users would have access to all CIN services with the exception of the Overdrive e-book and audio book service. These patrons will, however, be able to continue using these services through the Washington Anytime Library, the current provider at the library.
In addition, Mogen said children may be issued individual cards (as opposed to the family cards issued now), but a parent or guardian signature will be required to make the account valid.
Mogen said the library first started considering a change when she received notice that current catalog software would no longer be supported in two years. The cost to upgrade to that provider's next level of service was out of the Liberty Lake Municipal Library's budget, she said.
She began researching options and decided Koha, an open-source web-based library system, was the best option for Liberty Lake. Mogen said it was reviewed consistently as the most reliable and stable system.
She then contacted representatives from the CIN libraries in North Idaho to see how Koha worked for them. That was when the Liberty Lake Municipal Library was invited to join the network.
The library staff has been working for months to ensure a smooth transition. A mock site is currently set up to test possible bugs that may arise before the system goes live in Liberty Lake. Final preparations and transfers will be made this weekend. During this time, the online catalog will be down from 4 p.m. Aug. 18 until 10 a.m. Aug. 21.
Perhaps the greatest boon to the library is the reduced operating costs. Before, Mogen said maintenance alone on the previous system was $5,000 a year. After paying the initial setup fees, the Liberty Lake Municipal Library will pay an annual $2,500 membership fee to CIN. That includes maintenance.
"That's about the deal of the century," Mogen said. "If there's a problem, it's not my problem. It's their problem. I won't have to hire IT people or anything like that. The CIN takes care of it."
Welcome to the network
In addition to the Liberty Lake Municipal Library, CIN cards are valid at the following locations:
Athol Library
Blanchard Library
Bookmobile
Calispel Valley Library
Coeur d'Alene Public Library
DeArmond Consumer Health Library
Harrison Library
Hayden Library
Ione Public Library
Kellogg Public Library
Metalines Community Library
Mullan Public Library
Newport Public Library
Osborn Public Library
Pinehurst Library
Plummer Public Library
Post Falls Library
Priest Lake Public Library
Priest River Library
Rathdrum Library
Silver Hills Elementary Library
Spirit Lake Branch Library
St. Maries Public Library
Wallace Public Library
Wallace Junior/Senior High School Library
Don't feel like traveling? Titles at any of these locations can be requested and transferred to the Liberty Lake Library for free through the CIN catalog website.
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