Longtime library patron says new Schenectady catalog rollout reduced access, increased costs

Nancy Gifford, a Scotia resident and former youth services librarian with decades of experience in the Schenectady library system, told the County Legislature that the new Schenectady County Public Library (SCPL) catalog rollout has limited local access to materials and increased costs and staff time.

Gifford said she requested an item that had been on a shelf at the main Schenectady library during the transition and that the catalog processing delays required staff to obtain the item via an interlibrary loan from Lafayette Public Library, south of Syracuse. She described the process — searching multiple catalogs, extra paperwork, postage and additional staff processing — as a “huge waste of taxpayer dollars” compared with the prior system, where staff could directly reserve and send items through the county delivery network.

Gifford also said circulation has fallen since the transition and that automatic renewals, a feature of the new system, artificially inflate circulation statistics while making items less available to other patrons. She said some patrons frustrated by limited holdings were obtaining cards at libraries outside the county to access larger collections.

Gifford described visible changes at the main library building — fewer shelves and more empty space — and urged county leaders to address the operational and promotional shortcomings of the rollout so the library system can again draw patrons downtown.

No formal county action on the catalog was taken at the meeting; the remarks were part of the public comment period. The Legislature’s chair acknowledged the comment period and closed privilege of the floor after other speakers concluded.