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Tooele City Library board approves switch to Koha/Aspen catalog and new PIN process
Summary
Library director Chase Randall said the library will go live Monday with a new Koha/ByWater system branded with the Aspen Discovery interface; patrons will sign in with their library card and a new PIN set to the last four digits of their phone number and can reset it after first login.
Tooele City Library Director Chase Randall told the library board on Jan. 23 that the library will switch its public catalog to Koha with an Aspen Discovery interface provided by vendor ByWater and go live the following Monday.
The system change is intended to let patrons search across formats, place holds and purchase requests online, manage linked family accounts, curate and share lists and view library events within the catalog, Randall said. He told the board staff will set new default PINs equal to the last four digits of patrons' phone numbers; patrons must use that PIN to log in the first time and then may reset it.
Randall said the library cannot export existing PINs for security reasons, which is why the reset process is necessary. "We anticipate a ton of calls and questions," Randall said, and staff will assist patrons who need help logging in.
Board members asked whether the change would affect the Libby e-audiobook app. Randall said existing Libby sessions will continue to work until a patron explicitly logs out or moves to a different device; if a patron must sign in again, they will need the new PIN pulled from the Koha system. He repeated that logging in to Aspen requires the patron's full library card number plus the new PIN.
Randall emphasized staff and patron benefits: unified records for different formats (physical book, e-book, audiobook), curated recommendations based on patron ratings, the ability to submit purchase requests online and a discovery layer that can show relevant library programs alongside material search results. He encouraged board members to report catalog issues so staff can fix missing cover images and other import problems.
Randall also presented an annual-cost comparison, saying the move will reduce the library's integrated library system cost from about $20,000 a year to roughly $8,000 a year.
The board did not vote separately on the catalog vendor at this meeting; Randall said he will finalize wording in the technology plan to match the mission statement the board adopted and proceed with the vendor rollout.
Ending: Randall asked board members to expect an initial rocky transition week and to direct patrons with login problems to the library for help.
