Petaluma, March 1, 2022 - The Galecia Group is pleased to announce it has received a platinum award from LibraryWorks’ eighth annual Modern Library Awards (MLAs) for its LibraryCall project. LibraryCall helps libraries provide cost-effective phone and text-based services to libraries.
LibraryCall’s affordable services are designed to help libraries reach more people and address the challenges many communities faced even before the pandemic– limited access to library spaces and resources, unreliable Internet, and inadequate funding.
Two LibraryCall services are Storytime Direct and Dial-A-Story Studio. Storytime Direct is a turnkey service that includes the provision of a local phone number and delivery of a weekly story recording in English and/or Spanish from the Storytime Commons, a shared repository of multilingual stories recorded, licensed, and adapted by LibraryCall and member libraries.
For a more custom delivery, Dial-A-Story Studio allows libraries to record and share their own stories using the LibraryCall Manager interface. This option also includes the provision of a local phone number and provides access to the Storytime Commons. In addition, LibraryCall provides libraries with marketing support such as templates for outreach and publicity, and a web widget feature allowing customers to share their stories on their library websites.
According to one librarian: “The Galecia Group has been nothing but attentive, accommodating, and helpful to us. They are always seeking out and hearing our feedback, incorporating design suggestions, and generally working to improve our experience. The level of service is what sells the product for us.”
In order to qualify for the distinction of a MLA Platinum Award, LibraryCall was judged by librarians who use the product and were asked to vote on quality, functionality, value, customer service experience, and overall satisfaction. LibraryCall was ranked a 9.3 out of 10.
The MLAs were created to recognize the top products and services in the library industry in a truly unbiased format. Products and services were submitted in the fall using a simple application, and then posted on a private site with an enhanced description and attendant materials. These products were batched into small groups and sent to the LibraryWorks database of more than 80,000 librarians at public, K-12, academic, and special libraries. Only customers with experience with these products/services in their facilities were permitted to judge the products/services, resulting in a truly unbiased score.
Each judge scored the product on a numeric basis from 1-10 on a series of questions regarding quality, functionality, value, and customer service.
About Galecia Group
The Galecia Group has been helping public libraries leverage their use of existing and new technologies since 2000. Their goal is to ensure libraries use people to perform tasks that people do best, and use technology and automation for tasks that machines do best. Their services fall into three categories: library operations consulting, software-as-service and digital services.
About LibraryWorks
LibraryWorks helps administrators to make informed decisions about library technology, automation and software, collection development and management, facilities and furnishings, staffing, purchasing, and other areas that drive effective strategic planning and day-to-day operations. Our family of resources can enable you to identify best practices, monitor trends, evaluate new products and services, apply for grants and funding, post or find a job, and even enjoy some library humor.
About the Modern Library Awards program
The Modern Library Awards (MLAs) is a program designed to recognize elite products and services in the library market which can help library management personnel enhance the quality-of-experience for the library user and increase the performance of their library systems.