Product News

Polaris Library Systems Debuts Community-Focused Tools

Polaris Library Systems, a leading provider of library automation technology, recently announced a suite of new products. The products are all designed to help libraries expand their roles and influence within their communities.

The community-focused products include a new Feature It tool that enables libraries to promote community and library events, services, and materials prominently in the public access catalog (PAC). The promoted events and items are directly associated with a patron’s search criteria, enabling libraries to better connect patrons with the community and library services and materials.

Polaris also unveiled Community Profiles, a new database product. Libraries can strengthen their services as community information centers by enabling organizations, businesses, and associations to enter and maintain their information in Community Profiles through an easy-touse, web-based editor. The labeled editor is also available through the staff client, making it easy for library staff to search for and maintain community data. Patrons will be able to search Community Profiles directly from the Polaris PAC, and enjoy “one-stop shopping” for library and community information. Libraries will also be able to pull data from Community Profiles into Feature It to highlight community services and events in the PAC.

Feature It and Community Profiles expand the community presence on the library’s site. In addition, Polaris will showcase a new tool to disseminate targeted information about library materials and events out into the community. This widget connects community members directly with relevant library materials by enabling organizations and associations to post a “river” of library books, materials, and events on a selected topic directly on that organization’s own website.