Inner West Council libraries, New South Wales, are rolling out a new, improved digital management system.
The new cloud based catalogue and membership system combines the collections of all eight Inner West libraries giving members instant access to over 1.4 million books, films, magazines, digital media, and historical images and documents.
In addition, the software recognises borrowing patterns and interests to offer personalised suggestions.
Library and History Group Manager, Caroline McLeod, said, “Today libraries offer so much more than books.
“Our members want 24 hour access to the collection and to be able to move easily between physical and digital services.”
As part of the technology upgrades, Smart Shelving has been implemented in some libraries and will be added to others in the coming months.
Nicknamed the ‘magic shelves’ by customers at Ashfield, Leichhardt and Balmain libraries, where the system has been in place for some months, the shelves loan and return automatically when books are placed on the shelves.
Customers get confirmation their books have been returned, they can easily see the most popular books and don’t need to wait to be served.
