Scott Thomas, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Integrated Library System (PaILS), announced that PaILS saw additional growth in 2016 adding the entire Blair County Library System , the Pocono Mountain Public Library in Tobyhanna and the Eastern Monroe Public Library in Stroudsburg. All of these libraries are now live on SPARK, the PaILS-operated, open source, Evergreen-based ILS.

New libraries for 2017 will include the Bedford County Library System, the Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity (Northampton County), the Tunkhannock Public Library (Wyoming County), the Bangor Public Library (Northampton County), the Allentown Public Library, the Bethlehem Area Public Library, the Easton Area Public Library, and Ralpho Township Public Library (Northumberland County). Ralpho Township will be automating for the first time. This will bring the total to 103 service outlets. SPARK libraries serve a combined population of over 3.1 million. SPARK contains over 3.3 million items, over 744,000 registered patron, and saw circulation in 2016 top 3.9 million. 

In adding libraries, PaILS sponsored development of the Evergreen code to improve the way it handles memorials, the display of new materials, and editing patron records in batch. Says Thomas “We are starting to leverage the flexibility of open source and all of the libraries in our consortium, large and small, will benefit.” Also, in 2016, PaILS completed work on a Strategic Plan and a system for training catalogers.

submitted by
Scott Thomas
Executive Director
PaILS / SPARK
(717) 873-9461
scott.thomas@sparkpa.org
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