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Ephraim library director pushes Koha migration, outlines makerspace and grant plans
Summary
Library director Michael Thompson told the board he wants to migrate the Central Utah Library Consortium to the Koha catalog to fix persistent Verso problems; he cited a $30,000 migration quote and discussed grant opportunities to fund makerspace expansion and a home-delivery service.
Library Director Michael Thompson told the Ephraim Public Library Board on Sept. 16 that persistent issues with the library’s current catalog, Verso, have prompted staff to explore moving the Central Utah Library Consortium to the Koha catalog system.
Thompson said the migration quote he obtained for all three consortium libraries is about $30,000 with an annual hosting fee of roughly $6,000 for the group (about $2,000 per library). "The quote I got from Koha for all 3 of us to switch is 30,000," he said, noting the state is encouraging a move to Koha and that grant funding may offset migration costs.
Board members discussed trade-offs: switching systems could temporarily limit patrons’ shared access to some partner libraries, and smaller libraries in the consortium have differing priorities on fines, renewals and checkout limits. Thompson asked board members to collect public feedback on standardized policies and suggested an informal joint meeting with the other two library boards to discuss a revised consortium agreement.
On operations and budget, the director presented the library’s annual operating budget (reported at $246,894.04) and said the library had spent about 19% of that budget as of August. Thompson highlighted potential grant sources to support programs and equipment: a rep-tax grant that helped pay for summer interns and makerspace costs, Dollar General literacy grants, an American Library Association grant serving people with disabilities, and a federal/state grant opportunity to support a home-delivery service that could include purchasing a side-by-side vehicle (he noted grant awards up to about $30,000 were possible).
Thompson also described makerspace plans — tools already acquired include a heat press, button maker and book-binding kit — and emphasized training staff and staging a limited launch before expanding to equipment such as a screen-printing kit, podcast and photo equipment, and potentially a 3D printer if demand grows.
Next steps: staff will continue pursuing grant opportunities, solicit public feedback on standardized consortium policies, and return to the board with proposals and timelines for any Koha migration or makerspace expansions.
