From the desk of Lisa Hayes 

A busy start to the year indeed!  If you joined us for the Annual Meeting, you’ll recall that we’ve been working diligently behind the scenes to upgrade our search functionality and digital offerings as part of an ongoing effort to enhance the member experience. To that end, we are thrilled to announce that next week we’ll be unveiling a new and improved Library Catalog – complete with cost savings that meet our strategic reductions in all operational areas where possible, along with a delightful and much-needed “facelift.”  

Here are a few details: 

Our new catalog, previously “Encore” — now called Aspen – will deliver more intuitive and accurate search results across all areas of our collections. You’ll be able to sort and filter more easily, and it will group formats of the same titles – meaning that you’ll see print, E-books and audiobooks, all within the same search result. Additionally, the new system integrates seamlessly with Libby, so members will have fewer steps to get electronic books uploaded into their personal devices.

The new catalog will also integrate seamlessly with our existing digital archive called Omeka, which houses many of our photographs and other unique manuscript materials, and will now be more easily discovered through this new system. Historically, Omeka has been rather buried, hence why you are likely not familiar with it! We are actively digitizing our special collections, and it’s exciting that our new catalog is going to make these treasures more available to people all around the world.  

Next week will also include the release of PressReader, a new member benefit that allows digital access to more than 7,000 international magazines and newspapers. CLS members will now have insider access (without an individual subscription) to a wide variety of titles, such as Smithsonian Magazine, The Economist, Vogue, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and many, many others – plus puzzles!  

Look for an email next Thursday, February 26th, with detailed information on all of the above – complete with visual references, step-by-step instructions, and a video tutorial, too! At that point, the new catalog will be live, and while our whole team will be at the ready to assist with questions or troubleshooting, it should be a natural transition. We’re very excited and hope that you’ll be pleased with the new system. 

Lastly, some fun news from earlier in the week!  On President’s Day, the Library Society had the honor of sharing some of our George Washington letters for a local news feature with WCSC Live5News, which you can view here. It was another great reminder of how important the CLS remains to our Charleston History, and a timely opportunity to show off your Special Collections!  

With much appreciation for your ongoing support, 

Lisa Hayes 

Director of Collections