Computer System Upgrade Coming November 9-10

Our circulation and catalog system, known as Evergreen, will be offline from 9:00 PM on Thursday, November 9 through 9 PM on Friday the 10^th  for a major upgrade.

• Checkout will be possible only upon presentation of your library card (look-ups will not be possible). We will not be able to accept fines or lost item payments, check items in or issue new cards or card renewals. Self-checkout machines will not be functioning.

• Library catalog and account features will be unavailable both remotely and at the Library, so you

will not be able to search our catalog, place a hold or renew items you have out. No notices of

overdues or holds ready for pick‐up will be sent.

• Print and time management for the Library’s computer workstations will not be able to recognize library card barcodes, so please ask at the desk for a guest pass.

• Remote and onsite connection to some databases and downloadable and streaming content that requires your library card number for log‐in may be affected.

Staff will be happy to offer alternative resources and to assist in locating items in the Library. We also look forward to sharing with you the resulting improvements to catalog searching and other functions once the upgrade is complete!

Saving Time with the Library

Tempting as it might be, we don’t always have the time to come to the Library and settle in for the afternoon.  Here are a few ways we can help you cope on busy days.

Use one of the “express” check-out stations in the Bossidy Commons and on the Upper Level.  As long as you have your library card with you, you can check out most items without coming to the desk or standing in line. 

Pick a reading recommendation from one of our many thematic displays.  Topics range from seasonal holidays to favorite subjects and genres.  These hand-picked samplings, along with dozens of printed reading lists, provide a quick and convenient introduction to the myriad possibilities of our 100,000+ items. Specially shelved collections such as Book Club Corner and New & Now also help you zero in quickly on what you need.

Search our catalog or check your account online before you come, to see whether we have what you want and to check what items are due.  In many cases, you can renew an item once online if you can’t get here in person.

Sign up to receive updates on programs, schedule changes and more via e-newsletters, Facebook and Twitter, most with quick links to further information or registration forms.

Finding your Next Read

Our librarians are always looking for ways to enhance our readers’ advisory services.  The Ridgefield Library online catalog now draws from NoveList, a trusted source of expert recommendations for help in finding that next good read.   

Click on the entry for any title to find read-alikes with an explanation of why the match has been chosen.  Find suggestions for other authors based on your reading interests.  Want to know the order of books in a favorite series?  Click on the entry for any series’ title, and all the books will be displayed in the proper order.   Do you like James Patterson novels because of their fast-paced quality or Paula McClain’s character-driven writing style?  You’ll find lists of other authors who capture these elements in their books.  This enhanced catalog content is available for children’s, teen, and adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as for audiobooks.

To explore the full content of NoveList, visit the Readers’ Resources page on our website. Here you’ll find book suggestions for all interests and all ages along with lists of award winners and discussion guides.

Finally, don’t hesitate to ask our staff for reading recommendations.  It’s what we love to do.

Contributed by Head of Adult Services Dorothy Pawlowski

Recent Additions to Library Catalog Options

Do you rely on your cell phone as a primary form of communication?  If you text or tweet or get your email on your phone, the Ridgefield Library wants to make it easy for you to get the information you want about our collections and programs. Two new text messaging options have recently been added to our online catalog for your convenience.

You can receive hold notifications from the Library as text messages;  you will see this as an additional option in the usual screens for placing holds and managing your account preferences.  No more driving right by the Library only to get home to discover an email or phone message about a book waiting to be picked up.

When you find an item of interest in the online catalog, you can send the call number information to your cell phone as a text message to help you locate the item when you visit. Just look for the “text to phone” link next to the call number. No more searching around for elusive pen and paper.  With the expanded shelving areas coming in the New Ridgefield Library, this will be even more of a help in finding what you seek.

We’ve Got an App for That!

More and more Library patrons rely on their smartphones and other personal devices while on the go.  We are pleased to announce that now they can stay connected with the Library with the new “Biblio” app.

Compatible with all web-enabled phones and many other devices, Biblio offers a menu of links to frequently-used Ridgefield Library content and services, in most cases formatted or optimized for the mobile environment. Please note that some services require you to download their own apps first in order to interface with Biblio.

You can access our catalog and the My Account feature for renewing, reserving and seeing what you have checked out.   See a book somewhere and want to know if we have it?  Just activate the built-in scanner and point it at the book’s ISBN barcode.

You can download eBooks and eAudiobooks from OverDrive directly to your device. There is also a calendar of all our myriad programs and events.  Look up our hours and other information or contact us on the fly by automatically linking to your device’s phone and email features. Finally, learn the latest news with handy interfaces for Twitter and Facebook. 

Just search for “Bibliomation” in the app store on your device, and you’re ready to go – and take the Ridgefield Library with you!

New Catalog and Account Features a Boon for Users

Most library patrons probably don’t know that our catalog and circulation system is based on open source software.  What this means for those of us who are not techies is that priorities for improvement and enhancement of these systems can be determined by the libraries that use them and rolled out as they evolve, instead of waiting for a behemoth corporate owner to authorize the development and release of an entirely new version.  New functions and features are created by programmers within the library community, often at lower cost and with a better understanding of the behavior and needs of library staff and users.  Along with our Bibliomation partners, we recently introduced some changes that you might find helpful.

The first thing you will notice is a much more attractive and easy-to-navigate catalog with added features such as lists of award winners.  Some of the wording has been changed also to be more intuitive for the casual user (“bookbag” has become “list,” for example).  

“My Account” now has several convenient new options, included one that allows you to turn on a feature that keeps a list of everything you have checked out – a recurring request by readers for many years.