FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Elizabeth Kelley
Marketing Communications Manager
Auto-Graphics, Inc.
430 Vineyard Ave., Ste. 100
Ontario, CA 91764
909-569-1544
eak@auto-graphics.com
Auto-Graphics’ VERSO® ILS, Implemented in 95 Public Libraries across Tennessee with More to Come
Libraries throughout the State Leverage Existing Technology Infrastructure with Robust Consortia Based ILS Roll-Out
ONTARIO, CA. — July 29, 2013 — Auto-Graphics, Inc., a leading provider of tools, technologies and software developed to power libraries, today announced that it has implemented its VERSO® integrated library system (ILS) for 95 libraries throughout Tennessee. This large project is part of the initiative spearheaded by the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) in December 2011 by Tennessee’s Secretary of State, Tre Hargett to provide a statewide ILS to centralize and share library technology in a way that hasn’t been done in Tennessee before and making library resources more readily available to their communities.
“The Tennessee VERSO Consortia delivers two major benefits for patrons statewide: a rich set of online tools for patrons to use anytime and anywhere, and critical cost savings,” says Maria Sochor, ILS Administrator.
This milestone marks the on-time completion of phases 1 through 4 to bring these libraries onto the same technology platform. With VERSO fully implemented in this consortial model, library staff can define localized features and functions in the OPAC while also developing library specific circulation, lending and borrowing policies. Library patrons can view and manage their library account online, create reading lists, access eBooks, place holds and renew items online not just at their home library but at other participating libraries in their county.
The completion of phase 4 represents 15 VERSO systems consisting of the holdings from 29 different libraries, bringing the total up to 54 VERSO systems encompassing the holdings of 95 libraries. This large scale implementation consists of more than 1,135,000 bibliographic records and includes more than 2,360,000 items. If checkout activity at participating libraries remains the same, in 2013 VERSO will process more than 2 million checkout transactions for TSLA libraries alone. Phase 5 of the TSLA VERSO implementation is scheduled to go live in November 2013 and includes the Ocoee River Region, consisting of up to 16 public libraries migrating from Symphony to VERSO.
“We are very pleased with the way that the process has gone thus far in bringing these libraries onto VERSO. In some counties, while each library had an automation system, the systems were separate. With the migration to VERSO, these libraries now share a single system and support the philosophy of one system, one card,” said Albert Flores, vice president of sales and marketing at Auto-Graphics. “We expect patrons of these counties will be delighted that their library cards are good at each VERSO library that makes up the county system.”
About Auto-Graphics, Inc.
Auto-Graphics is the only publicly-traded library software vendor to provide software solutions along with full financial transparency. The company’s nearly seven (7) decades of providing solutions to the markets it serves reflects how well Auto-Graphics has listened to their customer base and stayed abreast of new technologies, continuously reinventing their products and services to help libraries of all sizes become more efficient and patron-centric. The Auto-Graphics browser-based Library Management Platform for patrons and staff – currently used by more than 11,000 libraries in North America – is comprised of SHAREit®, a Web-based resource sharing solution providing patron-initiated sharing, circulation-based interlibrary loan (ILL) using NCIP and consortial borrowing solutions; VERSO®, an integrated public library system (ILS); SEARCHit®, a federated search and discovery module; SLIMS™, a small library information management system, and MONTAGEdc®, a digital asset management (DAM) solution. All products are fully Web and cloud-based products which are compliant with ISO and NISO standards, and are available via a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription. For more information, please visit please visit www.auto-graphics.com, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Auto-Graphics trades under the stock symbol AIFS.
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© Auto-Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved.
VERSO®, SHAREit®, SEARCHit®, MONTAGEdc®, & SLIMS™ are trademarks of Auto-Graphics, Inc and part of their AGent Library Platform.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
President
Customer Service Manager
Product Manager – VERSO
Product Manager, SHAREit
Chief Technology Officer
Chief Operations Officer
Mr. Hicks, CPA, has been a director since February 2012. Mr. Hicks is Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Hicks has been a practicing certified public accountant for over twenty-five years in addition to partnering and managing both an underground construction company and real estate development business. Currently, Mr. Hicks is a founder and senior partner of Hicks & Williams, LLP a certified public accounting firm providing tax, audit and management consulting services to small and medium size clients across the nation.
Vice President of Sales
Mr. Heath has been a director since December 2012. Mr. Heath immigrated to California from Canada during the Internet commerce boom in 1999. Mr. Heath was formerly Vice President, Secondary Markets at Best Buy (2008-2010) and founded Dealtree.com in 1999, where he was CTO & COO from (2001-2010). Mr. Heath has developed expert system technologies for managing online sales channels and created several online marketplaces supporting secondary market sales. Mr. Heath is an Internet technology and business operations consultant and serves as President of Heath Investment Properties LLC. Mr. Heath is an active member of Rotary, and currently serves a Technology Director for District 5320 in Southern California.
Dr. Murphy has been a director since December 2012. He has over 20 years experience as a successful software executive specializing in high-growth SaaS companies. He currently is CEO of GVNG Technology and Practitioner of Strategy at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Dr. Murphy is an active member on the board of directors for several early-stage and private equity owned companies. He received his MBA from Pepperdine University and his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the Alliance Manchester Business School at The University of Manchester.
Ken Kerr has been a director since April 2020. During his career, he served in a variety of leadership positions in sales, marketing, and operations with companies in startup, turnaround, and expansion. Most recently he was CEO/CFO of Advisys, Inc., a SaaS company providing financial planning solutions to Fortune 100 banks, brokerages and insurance companies, and thousands of independent financial advisers. He retired from Advisys in 2018 and now consults with businesses to improve profits and productivity through effective employee engagement strategies. Ken graduated Cum Laude from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and has an MBA with an emphasis in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.
Director of Customer Service and Quality Assurance
Controller
Product Manager, SHAREit – Customer Services
Product Manager, VERSO – Technical Services
Director of Information Technology