BDL Migrates to Evergreen

Branch District Library First to Go Live on Michigan Evergreen

The Michigan Library Consortium (MLC) is thrilled to announce that Branch District Library is our first Michigan Evergreen library to migrate to the open-source Evergreen software. Their new catalog is part of Michigan Evergreen, Michigan’s open-source ILS project. Migrations for the remaining Michigan Evergreen pilot libraries are scheduled for this fall: Grand Rapids Public Library on September 29, Niles District Library on October 6, and Traverse Area District Library on November 10.

“Congratulations to the staff at Branch District Library for taking the plunge and becoming the first public library in Michigan to migrate to Evergreen,” said Randy Dykhuis, MLC Executive Director.  “We at MLC are very pleased to be involved in the project.”  MLC staff Evette Atkin, Ruth Dukelow, and Elaine Ross worked with the Grand Rapids Public Library and with Equinox Software, Inc., to convert and migrate Branch District Library’s records to the new Michigan Evergreen shared catalog.

“W00T! Nothing exploded!” said Evette Atkin, Systems Librarian for the Michigan Evergreen project. “With the amazing staff at Branch District Library, Equinox, and Grand Rapids Public Library, the migration was a success, and every minor speed bump will aid us making each migration smoother.  Thank you so much to Branch District Library for being our first library to go live!”

John Rucker, the point person for the Michigan Evergreen migration at Branch District Library, said, “The level of service and responsiveness we have received from both  Equinox and the staff at Michigan Library Consortium has far exceeded our expectations based on past experience with other vendors.  There were a number little glitches to work out in the first couple of days and these were promptly resolved, sometimes in just minutes. We already knew that we and our patrons would be getting a superior library system, but it's a pleasant surprise, indeed, to have this high level of customer service.”

In addition to migrations, MLC staff are responsible for providing training and support to the Michigan Evergreen libraries. “Training in Evergreen is proving to be a challenging experience, but I am pleased with its overall stability,” said Elaine Ross. “Trainees seem to learn very quickly and easily.”

After the pilot libraries have migrated this fall, the Michigan Evergreen project will be opened to other libraries who wish to join the shared catalog. To schedule a demo of Michigan Evergreen at your library, please contact 800-530-9019 Evette Atkin (ext. 152), Elaine Ross (ext. 153), or Ruth Dukelow (ext. 121). For ongoing information on the Michigan Evergreen project, see the Michigan Evergreen blog and the Michigan Libraries Wiki page.

[11 Aug 2008]