Evergreen Migration

As you may know, the Pollard along with the other libraries in the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) will be moving to a new library system this May. The following is a FAQ about the process, currently on the MVLC website. Stay tuned for more updates as they are available.

What We’re Doing:

MVLC libraries will be moving to a new automated library system, called Evergreen, at the end of May, Evergreen is an open-source library system that was developed in Georgia in 2006 and has been adopted by libraries and library systems throughout the world since, including two in New England. MVLC will be the first library system in Massachusetts to move to Evergreen, but we will be quickly followed by two other large library networks – NOBLE and C/W MARS.
Being open source, the new software will allow us to make changes to our own system and provide beneficial control over the development, maintenance, reliability and adaptability of our most essential services and their associated costs. Ultimately, it will provide MVLC the opportunity to design an information system that will fit the needs of our users, rather than being limited by the existing services that are provided by privately licensed software.

When Will It Happen?

Migration to the new system is planned for the Memorial Day weekend. We will be taking our current system down at the end of business on Friday, May 27th and coming up live on our new system on Tuesday, May 31.

Will Service be Disrupted?

During the transition, many MVLC provided services will be unavailable. Libraries will be able to check materials in and out, but there will be no ability to look up items in the public catalog or to place holds. Many databases and most electronic content will also be unavailable. (Some databases subscribed to by our individual members may be available.) OverDrive e-books and audio books will also not be accessible during that time. We will provide more specific information as the time draws closer.

Will the Holds I’ve Placed Be in the New System?

Yes. All current requests will be migrated to the new system.

What about the booklists I’ve created in My List?

Evergreen has a similar feature called the Bookbag. All My List information will be migrated to your Evergreen Bookbag.

Should I print out copies of My Lists, My Holds and My Searches?

Test results indicate that account information is successfully transferring from the old system to the new. However, if you’d like to keep a record of your account specific details, just in case, we encourage you to print the information that is most vital, such as items checked out, your holds list, My List titles, etc. in order to ensure that you have a backup of that information.

Stay tuned for further updates.