Library-systems firm settles into new home and name

LIVER-POOL - Newly named Polaris Library Systems has moved to a new office near the village of Liverpool.

Formerly known as GIS Information Systems, Polaris changed its name in May to reflect its flagship product, the Polaris Integrated Library System. The Microsoft Windows-based software is used by more than 700 library systems across the United States. The new location at 103 Commerce Blvd. is less than one mile away from Polaris' former offices at 7272 Morgan Rd. Polaris has secured a 10year lease on the site. The building is owned by Commerce Blvd. Associates, LLC. CB Richard Ellis brokered the deal.

The name change will help increase customer identification of the company with its Polaris software, says Judy Michaelson, director of marketing and public relations for Polaris Library Systems.

"To people in the library business, we were already known as 'The Polaris Company'," she adds.

Polaris began in 1974 as a division of library-supply company Gaylord Brothers known as Gaylord Library Systems. It launched its first library-automation product in 1975. The division would later be known as Gaylord Information Systems (GIS).

William Schickling, president and chief executive officer of Polaris, joined the company in 1987. He developed the Galaxy libraryautomation software in 1989 and began developing Polaris in 1996. Two years ago, after the sale of Gaylord Brothers to DEMCO, Inc., GIS became a stand-alone company. The Croydon Company, a privately held company, retained GIS when it sold Gaylord Brothers.

In addition to the name change from GIS to Polaris, a corresponding change to the www.polarislibrary.com Web address took effect May 1 followed by preparations for the relocation. An eight-hour overnight network and telephone outage was the only shutdown the move required, says Anita S. Wagner, chief operating officer of Polaris Library Systems.

The move began on May 13 and one week later, Polaris' 65 employees were at their new home. Polaris had its employees' cubicles and new technology set up prior to the move.

"We were fully operational by May 20," she adds.

The new office covers 16,200 square feet, while the company's old location had 17,000 square feet. The new space is designed specifically for Polaris' staff and operations. Staff members assisted in the move to Commerce Boulevard.

"We brought in a few laborers to help move the heavy furniture items," says Wagner, "But all the rest we did ourselves.

Polaris plans to add four new sales and service employees over the next few months.

The move took one week to complete says Michaelson. Each workstation at the new office is equipped with Seneca Data-built, flatpanel computer monitors. Pemco Group, Roberts Office Furniture Concepts, Telcove, and Syracuse Signage also worked on the new Polaris offices.

Much of Polaris' work takes place at customer sites where technicians install and test Polaris software. Repeated tests ensure proper functioning of the library systems under actual usage. Public libraries comprise 94 percent of the company's customer base. Automating a small library can cost as little as $60,000; larger projects usually cost much more. Polaris doesn't disclose its earnings. Industry estimates claim the company has more than $7 million in annual sales.

Two Upstate library systems are converting to Polaris this year. The Finger Lakes Library System is replacing a 15-year-old data system, while the Mohawk Valley Library System and the Southern Adirondack Library System are adding Polaris to their eight-county service area. The Mohawk Valley and Adirondack library systems use a single data system to serve more than 280,000 patrons. The Finger Lakes Library System serves a population of more than 300,000 across five upstate counties.

Polaris helps libraries keep track of their collections that can often consist of more than one million items. Finger Lakes Library System has more than 900,000 items and patrons checked out 1.6 million items last year, says Michaelson. The Mohawk Valley and Southern Adirondack libraries have 2.25 million items. Patrons of the two library systems checked out 3.81 million items last year, she adds.

Automated software tools help make sure that installations run smoothly, says Michaelson. Many times, Polaris finds system errors before the customers know there's anything out of the ordinary happening.

In addition to library automation software, Polaris sells products for adding wireless Internet, self-checkouts, and data-security for libraries.

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