GILROY
– Gilroyans will have to suffer the minor inconvenience of the
public library closing its doors for several hours this week to see
the benefits of a long-awaited computer upgrade.
GILROY – Gilroyans will have to suffer the minor inconvenience of the public library closing its doors for several hours this week to see the benefits of a long-awaited computer upgrade.
The Gilroy Public Library, along with other libraries countywide, will be upgrading its online catalog and computer systems, County Librarian Melinda Cervantes said.
“We are really excited about the new software we will be installing,” Cervantes said. “It will make things much more convenient for library users.”
Library employees will benefit from spending less time going through reports and updating the catalog at night.
With the new software, library patrons will be able to search through the more than 1.5 million items in the Santa Clara County Library collection almost 24 hours a day.
“I have actually had someone tell me they were searching for things at 2 a.m. in the morning, so it will make a difference for people,” Cervantes said.
Gilroy Community Librarian Lani Yoshimura agreed and said not only will this be more convenient for people, but it will lay a great foundation for the future of the system.
“Having this new powerful system will allow us to grow in the future and opens the door for many other possibilities we may consider,” she said. “In the past, people have had a hard time accessing information from their home computers, but this new system will stop this from happening.”
The Gilroy Library will be closed from 5 p.m. Wednesday to noon on Friday.
The software the libraries use is 10 years old. After three years of planning and organizing, the libraries are finally getting the upgrade.
Along with the longer hours of operation, users will be able to perform more than one search at a time. The new software, made by Horizon, allows the libraries to use Windows XP, and also provides a much shorter search time.
The project to upgrade the county libraries began three years ago, and library patrons have already seen the 298 new flat screen monitors that came along with the project.
“People who use the system at the library might not notice much of a difference, but our users at home will,” Yoshimura said.
During the two days the library is closed, Gilroy residents can venture to surrounding libraries in San Juan Bautista, Hollister and downtown San Jose.
