By Heather Lusk
Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library cardholders may not notice anything different about the Evergreen Indiana website after several days of upgrades.
“A lot of the development happened with administrative settings, ‘under the hood’ so to speak,” said Mary Reuff, assistant director of the library. “While this should make things better for our customers, it should appear to be a seamless, invisible improvement.”
Library customers may notice faster transactions and will see a few obvious changes, such as a message center for the library to communicate with customers, the ability to sort check out and hold history and the addition of e-books in Evergreen.
A direct link for OverDrive e-book and downloadable audiobook collections has been added so that customers can more easily borrow these versions of books. Previously customers had to leave the Hussey Mayfield website to visit OverDrive through a separate link.
Through the account summary section, it will be more obvious to card holders to see when their library card is due for renewal. A check out and hold history option have been available for several years through a selection in account preferences, but customers can now sort these materials.
“It really helps with customers who are reading a series or like a particular author,” said Virginia Hilbert, circulation services department head.
“We are glad that the catalog will be faster overall and, ultimately, more accurate for our customers,” Reuff said.
Many other changes were made to the system that will help the librarians do their job more efficiently.
“We want it to be easier on our side so we can provide better service,” Hilbert said.
Evergreen Indiana is a consortium of 107 libraries across the state allowing cardholders to borrow materials from other member libraries. Hussey-Mayfield Library was the first library in the state to join in 2008. Libraries in Westfield, Lebanon and Thorntown are also part of the consortium.
