Consortium does deal with Civica for library management automation software
The Scottish Consortium of Public Libraries (SCoPL) has signed up to jointly use the Spydus library management automation software provided by Civica, following a procurement carried out by the Tayside Procurement Consortium.
The £1.5 million managed service deal will kick in in November when the first of the six councils in the consortium begins to use the system. In addition to public libraries it will be used in some schools, where students will need only one card for their school and public libraries.
Spydus will make it possible for the libraries to automate several of their services, including public access, bookings, cataloguing, inter-library loans and stock rotation. Civica said that SCoPL members are expecting it to significantly reduce costs, and that it will now be used by local authorities serving 62% of Scotland’s population.
SCoPL consists of Angus, Perth & Kinross, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and North Ayrshire Councils, and High Life Highland, the charity that runs libraries for the Highland Council.
In June the Scottish Government published Ambition and Opportunity: A Strategy for Public Libraries in Scotland 2015-20, which includes an emphasis on the use of new technology and the development of digital access resources.
Best value
In a statement, SCoPL Consortium said: “The SCoPL Consortium members recognised the need to work together to provide best value both in monetary and workforce capacity terms. We are confident that we have a shared platform which will enable us to deliver, individually or collectively, the world class digital library services and robust back office a 21st century library needs.
“The integrated Civica solution is a significant milestone as we modernise our libraries by streamlining processes and improving the customer experience. We are looking forward to working together as the largest consortium of Library Services in Scotland to deliver an open and accessible public library service in line with the strategic aims of Ambition and Opportunity to ensure that we can respond to the changing needs and aspirations of our communities.”
The move follows the announcement in August by the Scottish Government that it is making £1.5 million available to boost the provision of Wi-Fi in public libraries.
Picture: Langholm Library, Dumfries and Galloway, by Paul Stainthorp, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
