FDLPL Waves Bye-Bye to WALS

But retains its membership in the Winnefox Library System.

First words that come to mind when reading the headline below.  Misleading.  Inexact.  Squishy.

Budget cuts into Fond du Lac library services. (Fond du Lac Reporter, 7/17/2011)

Excerpt: Fond du Lac library patrons will lose some convenience of services next month when the library bows out of a shared catalog system.

Starting Aug. 1, cardholders will be able to request items and place holds only on materials that the Fond du Lac Library owns. Materials owned by other libraries and previously available online will now be accessible only through holds made by library help or reference desk staff members.

Director Ken Hall said the move to leave the shared Winnefox cataloging system and have Fond du Lac’s library stand on its own is being made in anticipation of reductions in state funding. The move will save the library about $60,000 annually.

Hall said public funding cuts forced the library to choose from a short list of alternatives: eliminating the shared catalog, reducing the budget for new materials or reducing hours of service.

“We took the option that we believe, in the long term, will have the least-negative impact possible,” Hall said. “We believe that, over time, service to our customers will be stronger and better because of this decision.”

The switch to a standalone system will take place in November.